What Grace Has Given Me: The Litawen Chronicles
by MaraudingManaged
Summary: Life is never simple for those who have grown with one foot in Valinor and one foot in Middle Earth. Still more, Litawen's heart spans a far wider chasm as Benny's tale is told in gossip and whispers through the cities elves now inhabit, and no fortunate connections can help the estrangement Litawen and her family feel. A tale of friendship, love and strength.
1. Litawen at Fifty

**Hi everyone! **

**So... I couldn't stop myself. A week after I posted the last chapter of WGHGM I've started the next part of the story. **

**So far, this is more like snippets into the life of Litawen. Each chapter will be at a different age, a different stage of her life, and each chapter title will tell us what that is. I don't think we would experience true, outright bullying, but considering how easily Elves hold grudges and prejudices it wouldn't surprise me if someone whose square peg didn't quite fit into their round hole became a little ostracised. **

**Updates are unlikely to be as quick as with WGHGM, but I'll be going for once a week. Some chapters will be longer, some shorter – it depends on the chapter.**

_***Big Reminder* - If you haven't read What Grace Has Given Me first, I strongly recommend doing so. **_

**Lots of love, and I can't wait to hear what you think.**

**MM -x**

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"Litawen?"

I glanced up from my book, quill between my teeth. "Mhmmm?"

"May I speak with you?" Dad looked stressed, and I nodded as I unclenched my jaw and let the quill fall from my mouth. I patted my bed and he came in to my room, closing the door behind him. I scrambled up from my stomach and closed the book of sums I had been diligently working on, set by my tutor.

"What is it, Daddy?" I asked, crossing my legs. He assumed the same position as he often did, and he picked up the book I was working through. The sums were hideously easy, but my work was neat and thorough and I knew not a single one was incorrect. I could have done them in my sleep, so I was using the work to relax and unwind – it was almost therapeutic.

"This work is good. You are far more advanced than this, daughter. You insist upon working at the level of the other lords and ladies your age but it is clear your mind is well passed this."

I chewed my lip, eyes downcast. "You know why I do it." I had been telling them for many years that the other children, and then young adults, had taken some exception to me. At first it had been apparent jealousy and I had told both the children and my parents I knew it. That had gained me a little respect, or at least it had at first. I was seen as strong, as a little formidable. I didn't hide how easy I found any educational task set to me,

As they got older, I heard the whispers from both the children and their parents. The friends I did have began to distance themselves, but for those like my cousins who I had grown up with as close to as if they were siblings. By forty it was clear I was different to to the others in a way I could not erase by simply besting them and staring them down as I had learned from my Dad. By fifty, I had learned how to pretend that I did not hear their words, but they cut into my heart painfully.

_Look at her, she thinks she is better than us. _

_She thinks she is pretty, but she looks like a wildling. She climbs trees and throws herself from them at elves like Prince Legolas and Lord Glorfindel, and even Lord Celeborn when he passes._

_Her Mother is strange. She is strange too! _

_Is her Mother a mortal? _

_I heard she died not only once but twice, and the Valar let her return. Why do they favour her? _

_Is it not the only reason they were permitted to Valinor because of her friendships with Lord Glorfindel, King Thranduil, and Lord Elrond? _

_I heard she was a coward and ran away from Mirkwood. _

_Why does Lord Haldir love a creature such as she? So uncouth, so rude, and she speaks in a language none understand... even teaching it to her children so they do not know that they are of elven kind! _

The gossip was painful, and though I had only reached my fiftieth summer I was more developed than many intellectually and physically. I was slight in height, but my body curved as a full-grown woman's would and I was certain I was not far from the physical maturity many did not reach until their hundredth begetting day. I did not need my own... my own freakishness to make anything worse for my Mum. More and more it was becoming apparent to me that whilst she was trusted for her medicinal skill, demanded for her bread, and occasionally requested for her music from those who knew her before in Mirkwood, she was otherwise only befriended by those who had known her before we came to this place.

I became certain when I realised that she did not perform any sort of music in public any longer, and even in our home the songs were quieter than they had been in Gondor and Ithilien where I had spent my very youngest years. She was not well liked by those high-elves, and so that was filtered to her children too. I could have resented her, and I sometimes wondered why I did not feel so. Yet my bitter anger was instead reserved for those who instead chose to make a judgement before even knowing her, and I felt that was much healthier than creating a chasm where there didn't need to be one.

"This goes too far, darling. I will not have you hiding your potential simply because others cannot manage to contain their jealousy."

I sighed, closing my eyes and flopping backwards. "If it were all that was, the others could go hang." I confessed, and I felt him come to rest by me. "Can you keep a secret?"

"That rather depends on the secret, Lita." He said seriously.

"True." I considered how to phrase the real problems I was experiencing. "Tell me; do Gel and Cal have many friends?"

I turned my head to the side to watch his expression. Dad gave a puzzled frown, his eyes fixed at a point in the distance. "They have many playmates, though they are yet young."

Well, true – my brothers were half my age almost exactly at that time. Perhaps this would not be so easy as I had hoped. "And how many of those playmates are we related to by blood, by marriage, or by friendships forged away from Valinor?"

I watched his features change from clouded, to confused, and then to downright horrified. "Litawen, are there troubles that you have not told us of?" He said it as a question, but the tone of his voice suggested he had realised we faced difficulties with others our age, and older too.

"I can handle them, Dad – I clearly do so perfectly well, if you did not realise it." I rolled my eyes, sitting up again. "This battle cannot be fought for me. I cannot help much of it, but some of it I can disguise a little by not drawing so much attention to myself. I would never have Mum suffer, nor you. I love you both far too much for any more hardship to come upon you and the thought that it could ever be my fault tears at me like a knife. So yes, I pretend, but you cannot fault me for that."

"Yet here you are, telling me. It bothers you more than you care to admit." He drawled, and I dared to flash him a grin despite my anger.

"I thought you should know what the others say about you. It is awful, truly awful, and I am sick of not being able to defend you both. Mum has said a few things, it is true, but you both treat me as if I am still a child when it is obvious that I am long past childhood!" I snapped, finally losing the patience that I usually found easy to keep.

"And there stirs the dragon within." Father sighed, and then pulled me to him so that I rested on his shoulder. "I am sorry, my darling daughter. I promised to protect you when you came in to this world, and the job I have done these past few years has not been a good one." I frowned, about to protest, but he hushed me.

"I would speak to your Mother about this, and then see what she would do. We should have told you of her past in full earlier, but we had hoped... we had hoped there would be more acceptance here than perhaps there has been."

"I thought that might be the case. I am not so innocent as to think that our family is normal, Daddy." I used the name for him that I had always called him since a little girl, and his lips turned up in a smile.

"I know it. You are as intelligent as both your Mother and I, and just as curious as she." He played with my hair, golden curls about my waist. "I think there is no point in continuing your tutoring, Litawen. You speak two languages fluently, Quenya to a point, and of course Common enough to get by. Sums, daughter-mine? You can do them in your sleep. You are fascinated by history and you sing with your Mother almost every night. You need a new occupation."

"Such as?" My brows rose, and I waited for him to respond. He was seeming to toy with an idea before he met my eyes, so like mine.

"Have you thought about taking your archery further?"

"Truly?" I sat up, excited, and he shrugged.

"It will keep you out of trouble, at the very least. A Huntress can find easy occupation."

"I have been using a full bow for the last ten years, it is about time." I picked up my book of sums again, and then threw it back down with a sigh. "I love you both, you know that don't you?"

"Oh darling, of course." Father said, sitting up and putting an arm around my shoulder.

"I wish I hadn't told you, but I felt you deserved to know. I hate secrets." I brushed a tear away angrily, furious at myself for becoming so emotional. He offered a lopsided smile, and then brushed away the remaining dampness on my cheeks before kissing my forehead.

"I know. You are too much like your Mother for my poor soul to take."

"You love Mum." I pointed out as he stood, and he smirked as he was prone to do. His eyes lit up, and he opened the door to leave before turning back.

"Yes, the thought had occurred to me. Practice fields, one hour." He paused, and then sighed. "I shall be telling your Mother of what has been happening. Tonight, I think Gelluion and Callon will find themselves otherwise occupied with one of their Aunts or Uncles."

I grimaced, my excitement dropping a little. I knew that he would tell her, but I had hoped he would at least try to hide it a little. I was a clever lady, as much as I hated it, and I was intuitive too.

"Oh, and Litawen? If ever you try to hide who you are again, I shall personally ensure you care for your brothers every evening for the rest of the year."

**xxxXxxx**

I heard their roaring argument that evening after dinner, which included much door-slamming and a flurry of curses in my Mother's tongue which I filed away for future use with a smirk. It wasn't a real fight, but rather her general anger at all things high-culture that she had never been fond of nor forced to endure at any real length until now.

"Sometimes, I wish I was sodding human again! No, Haldir, you don't get to give me that look. Prejudice, outright racism? I thought we elves better than this, but clearly I was wrong."

"Racism?" I heard the curiosity in his voice, and the scream-like choke that tore from her throat borne of frustration was wild enough to make me snicker quietly. They truly did not know how funny they were when they attempted to have a fight.

"Oh my God, I cannot do this tonight." I heard her hiss, and then my bedroom door opened. Mother looked harried as she beckoned me forward, and I clambered off the bed. "Come on Lita, I want to take a walk with you."

"It is dark." I stated, looking out of the window with a single raised brow.

"And? I like the dark. Come on." She took my hand and pulled me with her, bare feet and all, out of our home and down the winding path to the beach.

"So, would you like to tell me why I have been able to extend my vocabulary so extensively tonight?" I teased and she pinched my side, dark hair tied high upon her head.

"What, apart from the fact your Dad is an arse sometimes?"

"You married him knowing it. I think you secretly like it." I said lightly and she chuckled, eyes darkening a little as we took the stone steps to the sand.

"That is an entirely different discussion and I outright refuse to have it with you until I have to." She blushed a little and I rolled my eyes.

"I am fifty, Mum – I know perfectly well the quite literal ins and outs of the whole business. You can thank Aunty Osellë for that. She sat me down with Tatharien when she heard us gossiping over..." I stopped myself with a giggle. "Never mind, Tath would _not_ thank me for it."

"I'm sure she wouldn't. So... Your Dad told me about your little chat today." She sat down on the cool sand, patting her side indicating I sit by her.

"Yes, I gathered." I drew my knees to my chest, bare toes burrowing into the sand.

"Why did you never tell me?" She asked, sounding a little hurt. "You usually tell me everything."

"Why did you never tell _me?_" I countered and she gave me a long, hard stare.

"Fair enough. You know I grew up in Mirkwood, north of East Lorien. I was nearly 300 when my Dad went to Lothlorien. When he was there, he looked into Lady Galadriel's mirror. It had the power to show things that were, that are, and things that might yet happen."

"Grandfather saw something." I felt my heart in my throat, and she nodded.

"He did. He saw the future and he thought he was saving us from it. Instead, he led us directly to it." She blew out a long breath through pursed lips. "So, there I was, nearly 300. Your Aunty Tori had just been promoted to a Second within the forest guard, Aunty J was, often, with ladies of the court she was friends with, and I was..." She paused with a frown. "A Lady of the King's court. I detested it, but it afforded me certain luxuries and of course, Legolas was my best friend."

"And then you find out something awful is coming for you." she nodded.

"For me, it was the attack of Sauron in my mind." Her voice was hushed, and I gaped.

"Sauron. The Dark Lord Sauron, in your mind?"

"Yes, but for now that's not important. Your Grandfather wanted to get us to safety and keep the woods from the darkness he feared we would bring. It was a spell; an enchantment, magic that was real and true. It tore us, soul from body, and we waited. Our souls were in the halls of waiting for thousands upon thousands of years until I was reborn not Aerlinn, but Bernadette. As I am now."

I finally began to truly understand. Some of her story I knew, but these intimacies I'd never been privy to before. "But you weren't, were you?"

"Do you know, you sound so like me sometimes." I nodded with a slight blush.

"I try to watch how I speak around the few ladies who have befriended me." I admitted, and but for the slight rise of her brows she didn't respond to my words.

"I didn't remember a single damn thing." Mum leaned back, staring up at the stars. "I grew up believing, knowing, I was completely and utterly human. This; all of this beautiful, incredible world... it was fiction. It was a story I read. My Dad remembered, but I didn't. Nor did my sisters, and my Mum only had a few memories here and there."

This, I knew, and I nodded to indicate as such.

"I don't think you understand, trouble. I didn't know anything about the time I'd lived here. I thought I had eighty to a hundred years of being alive. I spoke this language -" She began speaking in that tongue we had grown up with, and continued in it. "- but that wasn't all of the life I lived. As a little girl, I was adventurous, loved sitting in the outdoors, and music spoke to my soul. I devoured books, and then at about eight years old I discovered a book named the Hobbit. It was the story of Bilbo Baggins." I understood her as easily as I did in Sindarin, and fell as easily into the language as she did too.

"Frodo the Ringbearer's uncle?" Mum nodded, a small smile on her face. "You truly did not know that all of this was real." I gestured to the earth around me, suddenly feeling very small.

"Did you know that the stars are balls of burning gas, many with planets just like this one circling around them? They are billions upon billions of miles away. Makes you think sometimes. We are very small creatures and we don't really matter at all, but here we are."

"But here we are, indeed." I turned to see Dad standing behind us, arms crossed. "So, the childlike incarnation of Bernadette falls in love with Middle Earth and all its glories, but it is still just a fantasy. She grew, she loved, she learned everything she could. And then, at the same age you are now, my darling girl... her Father passes. The enchantment begins to unravel."

I felt the jolt to my heart as she continued to stare at the stars, Dad coming to sit behind me and pulling me to lean back against him on the sand. One arm anchored me to him in a protective embrace, the other reached out to grasp Mother's hand – her knuckles turning white from the force of it. "How did you manage?"

"I didn't." She said, voice little more than a croak. "I was alive, but for a long time I didn't truly live. I stopped your Grandmother from killing herself with alcohol, made sure my sisters continued on with their education, and somehow managed to keep mine afloat. All that at your age. I cannot stand to think of the same happening to you."

"That is why you refuse to have the serene life that others may take, isn't it?" I whispered, and she turned her head to meet my eyes with a furrowed brow. "I am perhaps too clever for my own good, I think." She sat up straight then, coming to kneel by Father's side and grasping my face in her hands.

"Never think that. Your intelligence is incredibly beautiful; as is your strength and your fire and your naughtiness. Yes, even the healing gel in our bed – thanks for that, by the way, that was the best night's sleep I've had in a long time."

"I was thirty five, I didn't know what it did!" I protested. It was a complete lie, but I needed to keep some semblance of simple trouble rather than the overly-intuitive child I truly had been. My brothers, at only ten summers old, were still infants and she struggled to sleep sometimes in case they needed her.

"Yes you did, you little hellion." She teased me, brushing curls out of my face. "You're right, though. I would rather truly, completely live every moment. Never take advantage of a second of it."

"You are not quite so tightly wound as you were, love." Father took her hand again and she shrugged, but there was the adoring glance between them and I felt my heart melt a little more. "The rest you know, I think. The accident that brought her here, and after. You perhaps do not quite know the ins and the outs of the War, but any book can tell you those. Lord Celeborn has a penchant for writing history particularly well."

"I shall visit the library tomorrow." I confirmed. "How did you fall in love?" I asked suddenly, and both looked at me as if surprised.

"Blimey, that was forthright." Mum laughed, and then stood. "It might be fun to tell you the story – but lets do it inside, shall we? The tide is coming in."

"Thank the Valar you have finally seen sense. Infernal creatures, the two of you."

"You love us." Mother teased, taking my hand to pull me up. As soon as Father stood I flung myself at his back, arms about his shoulders and legs around his waist as his arms captured me.

"Still not too grown to be carried, I see." He said with a laugh, turning his head towards me.

"Never. I love you, Daddy." I rested my chin on his shoulder as we walked back up to the house as a trio, Mother giggling the entire way home as she followed, dress gathered in her hands to keep the sand away.

I might have been growing, and growing quickly – yet still, there was something to be said for having quite so wonderful parents. I had laughed so much that evening as they told me first of their dubious tolerance, then friendship, and then love.

"Do you think I'll ever marry, Mum?" I asked, head in her lap and my feet upon my Father's.

"I'm certain of it, trouble. You know, I think there's probably even a betting pool about who it'll be." She teased, running her fingers through my hair.

"Well, he'll have to be tall. Dark hair, I think, and he'll have to love watching the sunrise on the beach with me." I said thoughtfully. "Funny, charming, and maybe even trouble like me!" I giggled as Father began tickling me in earnest.

"I do not doubt you will find all that and more." He said. "But let us not have to think on marriage until you are one hundred at least, hmm? I care not if you are fully grown in five years, twenty five, or fifty."

"Probably twenty five, if you're anything like I was." Mum supplied, and I tilted my head back to look up at her with a frown.

"Really – you hit your maturity at seventy five?"

"I don't know, did I Haldir?" She teased, and to my utmost amusement my Dad flushed to the very tips of his ears. "It was actually seventy, if you want to be pedantic about it."

"Ooooh, so you met _before_ Mum came to Lothlorien?"

"I did not know it was she, and she did not recall it until very shortly before we married." He protested, and I clambered from their lap with a grin.

"I am going to stay with Tatharien tonight, I think. Have a lovely rest of your evening." I went to my room to pull on my boots, pack a bag, and jump from my balcony onto the forest floor in a few moments flat – before my parents even realised I was going.

Luckily, we lived so close to Aunty Osellë. Even more fortunate, Tath's room had a balcony.

"Tath, let me in." I crouched on the railing comfortably, waiting for her to open the door.

"What on... Lita, what are you doing here?"

"Avoiding hearing the intimacies of my parent's relationship." I grimaced and she laughed outright, straight silvery hair tied back in a braid to keep it from her face.

"You grimace, my dear cousin, yet you have set it so perfectly so that they may have some time alone together. You really are quite the hideous romantic, are you not?"

Tatharien was almost identical in age to me but for about two weeks, and she was as close to me as any true sister might be. "Perhaps." I said evasively, but it was true. I had made sure in my own way that they would have some time alone now to remember their first years together, giving them space after my brothers had been particularly trying.

"How did your parents take the news of your tormentors?"

"Well, I know Mum's story now which helps a little. I now know in quite explicit detail how she not only helped to save elves in Lothlorien and Mirkwood, but also endured hours of torture by the hand of Sauron himself in her mind and did. Not. Say. Anything." I ground out.

"As your Mother would say – wankers, the lot of them. Come in – you can tell me everything over some peppermint tea." She pulled me from the balcony railing and into the room, closing the door behind her with a click. Sometimes, I was an amazing daughter.

"Make it a glass of wine, and you have a deal." I bargained as I permitted her to drag me.

"I always have a bottle hidden, for times just like these." She grinned outright, pulling the bottle from under the bed with a laugh, along with the two glasses we had long-since stolen for purposes such as these.

"And of course, the cure for a sore head the next day." I pulled out a smaller vial from my bag with an equally devious smirk.

"Ah, to be the daughters of healers." Tatharien said, passing me the glass. I took a sip and sighed, my eyes fluttering closed. It was deliciously rich and slightly sweet.

"Drink responsibly, or Bernadette shall have my hide!" We heard the call from the front room and my eyes flicked open again. Aunty Osellë had hearing like a hawk.

"Always!" We cried as one, before dissolving into joyful adolescent giggles.

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**So, what do we think? Reviews, as always, sincerely appreciated. **


	2. Litawen at Seventy Five

**Hi everyone! **

**Here's the next installment for you. I _know_ I said once a week or so. I know that. ****I just can't resist these characters – they make me write them! Little ideas and scenes popping into my head demanding an audience. You are my audience, so yay for you... hopefully?**

**I had such a giggle writing this one, so I hope you enjoy it! Don't forget to tell me what you think, and thank you for the favourites, follows and reviews already! **

**Lots of love, **

**MM -x**

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"Fuck. You. Sunshine!" I let fire arrow after arrow at the target, speaking in English as I was prone to do when frustration hit me particularly strongly. I was alone at the archery ranges, taking out my frustration on the poor target which had truly done nothing to deserve my considerable ire. I repeated the sentiment in every language I knew before exhausting myself, simply letting my bow do the talking instead.

"My, my, such language from one so fair." I heard the drawl and grimaced before turning and shooting my arrow directly by the elf's foot. "Now, Litawen! You could have injured me." He exclaimed – only slightly alarmed.

"No, that was a warning shot. Come any closer, and I guarantee you that I will not miss." I snapped, almost a growl.

"What is wrong, Niece of mine?" The voice changed in timbre and I sighed, letting my bow fall to the floor.

"I know not, Uncle Glorfindel. I do not feel myself these last few days." He stayed where he was but held his arms open in an offer of an embrace. I toyed with the idea before throwing my quiver down too and running to let myself be hugged by him. "How is it possible to be so surrounded by people, yet feel so unfathomably lonely?"

I was seventy five summers old – an adult in everything I was. People still tried to treat me like a child but that was long past and it was becoming apparent that I was my own person, and so I finally had a small group of close friends who I had finally befriended after much effort. Even then, I was still lonely. Tath was my sister but she was flirting shamelessly with an elf who was from further north, and he was no better, and it was stirring feelings within me that I had never truly expected.

"Sometimes, it is." He grasped my shoulders and stared into my eyes, searching. "Now, the truth if you will."

"Tath has a fancy and I am unspeakably jealous." I admitted with a huff, turning back to pick up my bow and quiver. Honesty was something I now prided myself upon – after the mishaps in my youth I knew now that being true to myself had far more value than the questionable opinions of others. I had spoken to Tath at length about it, but she didn't seem to understand my concerns and I had no desire to hurt her feelings for thinking my own depressed moods were her fault in any way. She was remarkably lucky – so fair of face and truly beautiful, it was no wonder young lords flocked to her side.

"Now, that I did not expect." He came to stand by me as I fired perfect shot after perfect shot – the repetitive motion soothing my frayed nerves more and more each time. "You have become an excellent archer, and quickly. Is there anything you cannot do, Lita?"

"Be a normal elf." I said bluntly, going to collect my arrows from the target and beginning again. "If you find me an elf who is interested in me – genuinely interested, and not only loves me but loves my family too, I shall eat my bow."

"That is awfully cynical, even for a child of Haldir." Glorfindel said, not without a great degree of sadness.

"I sleep deeply with closed eyes, and I am sensitive to extremes of temperature. I dream, and dream vividly. I shoot, I am grown young, I play the flute better but prefer to sing. I have curly hair, good Valar! I speak four languages, one of them not technically around yet, can curse in one more, and speak in a vernacular that those who do not know me well find incredibly alienating." I stated one after another until I had run out of arrows. "Tell me, why should I not be cynical?"

"I know in your youth..." He began with a frown and I snorted, pulling the arrows from the target cleanly and examining them wit a tut – I would need to replace the arrowheads very soon.

"Oh hush, it never stopped – it simply changed." I sighed, putting my arrows away.

"You have friends, Litawen." He advised gently. I looked at him, surprised.

"Well, of course I do. Most tolerant, a few less so, but I do get by. Tath, Míresgalon, Cóliel and Gwilithil too!"

"Tatharien is your cousin, dearest."

"Is there a point in there, or are you just stating the obvious for your own benefit?" I asked, a single brow arched delicately. He looked somewhere between amused and disgusted.

"You truly are your Father's daughter when you want to be, trouble – you are as bad as he when first we met, and he was not truly all that much older. What I meant is that Tatharien does not count as she is family, and has no choice but to tolerate you."

"That is just cruel." I felt my chest becoming tight at his insinuation that I was merely tolerable.

"Damnation, do not twist my words - you are as bad as your Mother for finding meaning where there is none." Some may have shrunk back at his sharp tone, but I had long since learned that with those he loved his bark was far worse than his considerable and accoladed bite.

"Then don't make it quite so easy." I sighed, rubbing my face. "I'm sorry, Uncle, truly. I am a little low of spirit at the present, and the twins have been tiresome of late."

"Ah, the joys of adolescence." He said sagely. "Are you not glad you are long past the curious mood swings and random spurts of growth?"

"The spurts that so avoided me!" I exclaimed, swinging my quiver to my back and strapping my bow down once more. "Just another black mark against me – still as short as I was at fifty, but with my figure so less evenly distributed because of those adolescent joys."

I began to walk off, but Glorfindel captured my arm and met my eyes as he turned me. "Dinner, two nights time, and I shall prove to you that you are not quite so repellent as you seem to think. Are we agreed?"

_No, no, no, no, no_ my mind chanted over and over, reeling backwards from his suggestion.

"We are." I said, chin raised, but as soon as I could I turned and fled. Tatharien had warned me to be careful in admitting how I felt to any of my Uncles, especially Glorfindel. Mum hadn't lied when she had said he was meddlesome and nosy – whilst wishing the best for all he loved, he also enjoyed a wealth of connections and many a single young Lord was in his acquaintance.

When the mood struck him, was not afraid to use those connections.

_Litawen, you are an unrelenting and undeniable fool._

"Tatharien!" I cried, hammering on her door with a panicked expression. She answered the door looking surprised. "Do you remember the stupid thing you told me not to do?"

"You did it, did you not?" I nodded, and she sighed. "Mother, we have unbearably idiotic company." She announced before dragging me in.

"Litawen, you are white as a sheet." Osellë offered me a mug of tea and I took it, sniffing the steam. "Now, what mess have you managed to create this time?"

Both my Aunt and Cousin stared at me, and I blushed whilst looking down at the peppermint tea. "I may or may not have dared Uncle Glorfindel to find an elf that not only loves me, but accepts and loves my family too."

The two ladies shared a glance. "Of course you did my dragon of a Niece." Osellë said. "I think this rather calls for something a little stronger than tea – congratulations, you have fallen into the jaws of love at long last. It is a rocky road, indeed."

"Ha! I thought you'd be here. There are some interesting rumours flying, Lita." Mum stuck her head around the door just as Osellë handed me the glass of red wine. "Oh dear, that bad?" She asked sympathetically and I leaned back in the chair with a groan.

"I do not suppose there is any way to stop Uncle Glorfindel?"

"Not a chance, sorry lovely." Mum took a glass herself, offered by Osellë with an equally devious smirk. "You never know – you actually might enjoy a little bit of attention."

"Oh, because she has not enough of that to be going on with, Aunt." Tath rolled her eyes and I frowned, sipping my wine. "Oh, come now! You know full well that many an eye is drawn to you whenever you chance to roam."

"Only because they see me as an amusement – something to point and laugh at." I assured her with a snort.

"Oooh, you do rile me Litawen." Tatharien genuinely looked quite annoyed, and I felt my throat tighten a little. "Now, do not even dare to cry. You may not see it but be sure that it is _only y_ou who does not. If you but showed half a moment of interest in a single one of them then you would have more suitors than you would know what to do with."

"You are out of your mind, my dearest Tath." I laughed with mirth, realising she was quite wrong. "Not a single one of our friends is interested in me, good Valar!" I drawled.

"And this is why you shall never truly be able to find a suitor." She huffed, sagging back. "Insult me as you wish, it does not change the truth of it. Sarcasm is not so attractive a trait as you seem to think."

"Well if they do not find it attractive then they had best move on – I shall not seek to change simply for a man." I became adamant. "I spent too much of my youth worrying about what others thought of me; I shall not spend the rest of my eternal life doing so too."

"High-five, Lita." Mum held out her hand and I smacked my own against it – a gesture she had brought from her life before which I rather enjoyed.

"I think you are quite mad. Still, I think you should give it a try. How bad can it really be?" Tatharien said brightly, and I shrugged.

No more ominous words had ever been spoken.

**xxxXxxx**

"Uncle Glorfindel, I love you with all my heart, but this stops _now._" I hammered on his door, hair wild about me. Ten years – ten years I had permitted his meddling and matchmaking but no longer could I stomach the false smiles and pretentious attitudes of the lovely but singularly boring young lords he was introducing me to. Ten years was more than enough for me to see that love was something that would seek me out quite in its own time.

"One more, my dear dragon?" He said, and as always I sighed and looked up at him through fair lashes.

"What time will he arrive?" I folded my arms. Usually matches included a walk upon the beach, dinner, and perhaps dancing – Lords were so unimaginative.

"It might be more interesting for you to seek him out." He said thoughtfully. "He will be at the archery range, I should not wonder. It would give you a chance to show off a little."

"The heads of young men are easily swelled and popped, especially when bested by a lady." I warned, turning my back. "This shall not end so well."

"I think you will be surprised, and quite pleasantly so."

Surprised I was as I went to the fields an hour later, bow and quiver strapped about me, in one of the nicer tunics I owned to try and at least make a good impression. " Mír? I didn't expect you to be here!"

Míresgalon was Captain Taeglyn's son – the Captain had known my father in Lothlorien before I was born. He was a little older than I, so I had not really come to know him until much more recently. He had helped me to escape Glorfindel's suitors where he could, taking far too much glee in the whole ordeal.

"Hello there, Litawen! Come to best me, I should not wonder." He opened his arms in greeting as he hugged me.

"Ah, now, there's a task." I grinned, taking my bow. "Tell me, Mír. How much do you value your arrows?"

"Oh, Litawen, please do not..." I took aim and shot, watching in triumph as my arrow flew true. "... Split my arrow. You really are Haldir's daughter, are you not?" He sighed, ruffling my hair.

"I should hope so!" I laughed, ducking his hand. I walked to the target, retrieving my arrow and offering him one of my own as a replacement. "So, have you seen anyone skulking around here?"

"Not today, little Lita." He teased, blue eyes shining with delight as I grimaced. He was far taller and broader than I, fair of face and one of the most lovely elves I had the opportunity to call a friend. I had come of age quickly and as soon as we truly met, we became fast friends for we saw each other as peers and equals. It was truly refreshing, and gave me a sense of normality in my life when oft it seemed to disappear completely. He had stood beside me against some of my worst tormentors, and had made sure that others began to see me for the lady that I was.

"Only my family get to call me that, Mír, and well you know it." I prodded him with the arrow shaft before placing it in his outstretched hand. "Glorfindel is meddling."

"Lord Glorfindel is always meddling." He laughed. "Now, show me how you split arrows. I have been driving myself mad trying to work it out."

I became distracted completely shooting with my friend that I didn't realise the afternoon had passed without any sign of Glorfindel's mysterious suitor.

"I rather think I have scared the poor fellow off. Am I really so awful, Mír?" I leaned back against a tree as the sun began to set, watching the reds and blues bleed and mingle in the sky above me.

"No, and never think it." He said coming to stand beside me. "Do you want to go for a glass of something that I am certain will ensure we get up to all kinds of debauchery?"

My eyes scanned the field one last time, giving up finally with a slight sense of relief but a vague hum of disappointment remained still. "Do you wish to go up in to town? I need to eat, too."

"Absolutely." He threw an arm about my waist and I leaned against him, thankful that I at least had a few friends now to lean upon when I felt so melancholy. "Do you know who Glorfindel sent for you today?" He asked curiously and I shook my head.

"Saw me and ran, I expect." I sighed. "Let me just go home and let Mum... sorry, Mother, know I will be out tonight."

"You _can _speak as you will around me, you know." Míresgalon rolled his eyes. "And you are lovely – anyone who has truly come to make your friendship is fortunate indeed, so to gain your love would be quite the blessing."

"Thank you, Mír. I am glad I have at least one friend who has a little faith in me. I shall just be a moment."

I didn't see his face fall a little as I turned to go up the stairs, and even if I had I wouldn't have truly understood what it meant. Instead, I hummed happily to myself as I quickly changed and put my bow away for another day.

"Mum, I'm off to the tavern with Míresgalon – I expect Tath and the others will be coming later." I called through the talan and I saw her wave briefly as she scribbled on parchment with a furrowed brow from her seat at the dining table.

"Have a good evening, sweetheart. You know where the hangover remedy is if you need it and for God's sake, if you get drunk keep it down when you come in." She looked up with pleading eyes and I giggled.

"I shall. You have ink on your nose!" I teased and she dropped the quill with a grin.

"Probably time for me to stop anyway. Enjoy your... are you wearing that?" She frowned and I looked at my dress.

"What is wrong with it?"

"Mír... never mind. Wear something a little nicer, trouble. Maybe the floaty blue dress instead."

I did as she suggested, bewildered, and then put a slim gold circlet in place to help hold my hair still. "More to your liking, Mummy dearest?" I twirled – the deep blue chiffon gown fanning out as I did so.

"More to Míresgalon's, I shouldn't wonder." she grinned and I rolled my eyes.

"He is just a friend, Mum. See you later." I waved and took the steps two at a time, tapping Mír on the shoulder in greeting. He spun, and then his eyes lit up as he looked down at me.

"Blue suits you, Litawen. Shall we? I took a moment to stash away my bow whilst you made yourself look lovelier than ever." His tone was teasing and I blushed at the compliment – a friend he might be, but everyone liked to feel pretty every now and again.

It helped that he was rather handsome, in his own way. I'd not really thought on it before, but walking arm in arm with him up the winding coastal path was rather enjoyable as we talked and gossiped about our friends shamelessly.

We drank more than could possibly have been healthy when we did reach town. We had joked and played and teased, and I wondered more and more vaguely if he was flirting with me, and if I was actually flirting back. However, the more wine I drank, the less it seemed to matter and we eventually walked – meandering and staggering a little – back to our little corner of Valinor where we had come to feel at home.

"So, Litawen." We stood outside my talan – the sun actually beginning to rise now – and I glanced up at him with a slight frown. "Have you worked it out yet?"

"What?" I was now utterly confused, and he looked a little exasperated as he pulled one of my curls and let it spring. I giggled, and then covered my mouth with my hand. "I'm so sorry, that was rather rude."

"Ah, Litawen." He gave me one of those charming grins again, and then tapped my nose. "You are the strangest creature, but do you know? You should never change. Anyway, I am going to do something now that you will probably shoot me for later, but I rather think I should do it anyway."

"Mír, I have no idea what you... mphf." Eyes wide with surprise, there was the feeling of remarkably soft lips against my own as Míresgalon kissed me. I was too shocked to respond at first, but as he held me gently I let myself fall into the kiss – my very first kiss.

It was sweet, but despite finding him entirely handsome and deciding that this kissing business was something I could come to enjoy thoroughly... it wasn't right. Not for me, and as we pulled back and I met his eyes, I knew it wasn't for him either. I laughed a little breathlessly, as did he, but he gave me a little distance once more and I blushed.

"You will be perfect for someone, Litawen. Perhaps not me – I think we know each other a little too well." He grinned impishly. "But I had to see, to be certain." He came to stand by me as I leaned against the banister. My head swam a little from the wine and still from the kiss, and my eyes trained upon the stars for a moment before I looked towards my friend.

"I think I know what you mean, Míresgalon." I bumped him with my shoulder and he did the same. "So, you were my secret suitor all along. Thank you – for showing me that it isn't all entirely hopeless."

"It was entirely selfish, I assure you. I now get to brag shamelessly about how I am the first to have kissed you." He teased me and I laughed, my head tipping back.

"Oh, Mír." I said fondly, leaning against him. "It was a lovely evening, though. Are you coming hunting with the party tomorrow... today?" I asked, correcting myself as I saw the dark inky blue of the sky lighten a little more.

"No, nor should you if you have any good sense."

"I have my Mum's hangover remedy; I shall be perfectly well come the morn." I said smugly, and then I felt the wine directing me again. "Now, I shall be selfish." I raised up a little on my toes and let my lips meet his again – directing our kiss myself this time. He tasted a little sweet, like the wine we'd drunk to excess.

"What was that for?" Mír asked, looking a little dazed with a slight smile on his lips.

"Just checking." I shrugged, eyes creasing at the corner a little as I gave a small smile. "For what it is worth, you're an excellent kisser. Just not quite the one for me."

"Thank you, I believe."

"It was a compliment." I assured him, and he laughed. "You know, I think it is time I put a stop to Glorfindel's matchmaking. I shall find someone, in time."

"Absolutely." He then decided to kiss me again, once more for good measure, and despite that there wasn't a true spark between us those kisses were particularly... freeing. "Alas, still nothing except a rather enjoyable sensation. I wonder if I keep kissing you, I shall fall in love with you?"

"Go, Mír." I laughed outright then, shoving him away. "You have had your last kiss from me. I shall see you for the hunt... and here." I fished in my pocket and sent a vial flying his way of my Mum's famed remedy. "Down in one, followed by a glass of water. Come the morning, this will all be an embarrassing haze."

"Nay, never!" He called, walking backwards and waving. "See you tomorrow, little Lita."

When his back had finally turned and he'd disappeared into the trees I pressed my fingers to my lips, recalling the feeling of him kissing me and the gentle teasing of his lips, and his tongue, against my own. I hummed as I took the stairs a few at a time, entering the door whereupon I spotted both Mum and Dad curled up on the sofa in a position that couldn't have been comfortable. She was sprawled over him, her hair falling about them both in dark waves, their legs and arms tangled together as they slept.

They'd stayed up for me and oh, how I loved them. I couldn't wait to find that love myself – even though I knew it wouldn't be with Mír. I trod lightly across the boards, slipping in my bedroom door and closing it as much as I dared before falling into my bed with a thud, Mum's hangover remedy down my throat in a few seconds.

I went to sleep dreaming of kisses and soft hands against warm skin – not from Míresgalon, but from a phantom of my earlier girlhood dreams with dark hair and eyes that shone like the stars. When I woke, it was with a lighter heart than I'd had in all of the years Glorfindel had meddled on my behalf.

"So...?" Mum eyed me, and I blushed as I sat down at the kitchen table.

"Excellent kisser, absolutely no romantic interest." I said, and her brows rose as a bowl of porridge was placed in front of me.

"What a shame, I rather like him." She looked a little disappointed and I laughed.

"Yes, me too. Still, never mind – as first kisses go it could have been much worse..." I began but then was cut off by the ruckus coming from outside.

"Míresgalon and Litawen, sitting in a tree..." I heard the sing-song voice of my brothers as they came tearing through the front door.

"Valar, what are you? Twenty five again?" I rolled my eyes as Callon sang the next line right in my ear.

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G..."

"Mother, who taught them this rhyme? It is English, and I am going to murder the perpetrator in cold blood." I told her frankly and she held her hands up in defence – it wasn't her. I raised my arm to hit my ridiculous younger brother, only for Mum to grab my wrist.

"Shut it, the three of you." Mum said sternly, green eyes darkening a shade, and Gelluion swallowed his part of the rhyme before sitting meekly beside me. He smiled sweetly – he knew how much it would mean to me even if his outlandish twin wound him up into poking fun at me. I reached over and gave his hand a squeeze, watching his twin brother out of the corner of my eye suspiciously.

Callon sat at the other side of me – the more wild of the two boys – winking roguishly and mouthing _Ha-Ha-You-Suck _at me before smugly responding to her, a look of all-innocence upon his fair face.

"Yes, Mum."

As soon as her back was turned, Callon spun in his chair. "First comes love, then comes marriage... Ow! What the hell is wrong with you?" He continued from his sprawled spot on the floor – the slang my Mother so used coming more easily to him than it did me nowadays. His green eyes stated up at me accusingly, so like Mum's, but I couldn't summon even an ounce of pity for him as he winced.

I had shoved him to the floor violently, his chair landing on top of him with the sickening crack of wood against bone. "I did warn you, Callon." Mum sighed from the stove, rubbing her eyes tiredly. "That was for your benefit, not Lita's. One day, you will stop underestimating your sister. Now stop it, and eat your porridge."

"Yes, Mum." He said with more honesty this time, and a grumble as he turned his chair right again. "Sorry, Lita. Truly though, did you have a good evening? Do I need to threaten him?"

I giggled, his adorable look which tried to be something like ferocity warming my insides despite his teasing. "No, Callon. Though if there is anyone for you to ever threaten, I shall make sure to let you know."

"Good. I like Míresgalon too much to have to black his eye for feeling up my sister." He said and I spluttered tea just as I was taking a sip. "What? It is my brotherly duty. Now, pass me the honey, will you?"

"He's right, you know. Cal's all for the violence, and I do the talking. Between us, Dad, and our flock of Uncles, any suitor who hopes to court you has some serious contention."

"And then there's me." Mum said lightly, sitting down at the table.

"You're the worst!" All three of us exclaimed at the same time before laughing as one. Mum looked between the three of us with a sigh before dropping her head into her hands, black hair falling about her in a curtain like the night.

"God help me, it's begun. There's no rest now you've started ganging up on me together."

Callon, Gelluion and I shared a glance; one filled with a little sympathy. She was probably right.

* * *

**Awkward first kisses for the win! What do you think? Reviews, as always, are very welcome.**


	3. Litawen at Ninety Nine

**Hey everyone! **

**Thank you so much for the reviews, and also to the stalkers as always. You are all awesome! **

**I genuinely cannot stop writing at the moment – ideas are running rampant and I already have five chapters written. I think I'll probably have two more after that – it isn't going to be a long fic; more like a ficlet if you want to call it that! **

**I'm also beginning work on Staring Into Infinity – for those who don't already know, this is my Elladan ficlet held within the WGHGM 'universe'. I need interesting points in history, people! Give me your ideas! **

**Lots of love, and don't forget to review, **

**MM -x**

**xxxXxxx**

"_Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" She held out her arms for a hug. "Where is your dear brother?"_

"_Yes, and you appear to have returned back to your usual size once more. As for my twin, I shall explain all when we have a moment to sit."_

"_You are still an ass I see, Elrohir. I can't wait until you meet them though. Twin boys." Mum explained with a grin. "Dark haired and completely mental, they're such fun. What do you mean about Elladan?" I suddenly felt a flurry of nerves as the one of the twins, Elrohir she'd said, looked behind Mum with brows creased. _

"_In but a moment, give me strength you infernal creature. Who on earth is this?" He stepped around Mum and I put the nerves away, holding my hand out with a flourish as if to shake it._

"_Litawen, my Lord Elrohir." I smiled up at him, but as he took my hand I felt something... strange. His eyes widened and I felt the thrill that my little plot had worked, but I was still unusually distracted by the feeling of his hand surrounding mine._

"_Little Lita?" He asked, and kissed my hand instead of shaking it as I nodded. "Well met, my Lady."_

"_I am no Lady." I began automatically, and then blushed as he laughed. He had lovely eyes, I noted absently, grey and blue and all the shades in between. He continued to look at me as if someone had dumped a bucket of iced water upon his head, but then he smiled slowly as his eyes never left mine._

"_Do you know, I am certain that I had the same conversation with your Mother when first I met her?" I saw her nod over his shoulder with a fond smile, and then frowning as she saw someone mishandling a case of medical supplies. "I must insist that you do not use my title. I do not feel like a Lord and I fear I never shall!" He chuckled._

"_No! Good Valar, give me that before you destroy them completely." Mother shouted at the poor elf, who all but dropped the crate he haphazardly carried with a squeak. I laughed before turning back to my companion with a strangely nervous clenching of my stomach._

"_So..." I began, but noticed he still had a hold of my hand. The strange look came upon him again, and his thumb began to rub slowly across my knuckles. "Ah, you still seem to be holding my hand."_

"_So I do." He blinked, shaking his head and then arranging it so I had my arm through his with a quick gesture. "Better, little Lita?"_

"_Oh, I am sure I will cope either way." I noticed how much taller he was than me – I seemed to have inherited my mother's shorter stature so I had to peer upwards a little._

"_Hmm, I am sure you can. So, tell me of your adventures whilst we have been absent – and I would hear about your brothers too!"_

Well, life had certainly been quite the adventure recently – one I had not at all expected. I was recently back from the hunt, dressed as a Lady for once after selling on my kills at the market. It had not been quite so productive a trip – my head had been completely addled by my impromptu meeting at the pier.

Gods, what an unmitigated mess I had made. I had not thought that I would find my heart racing quite so rapidly on the occasional stray thought of Lord Elrohir, nor my desire to actually seek out his company. He had made me laugh so much that day as I recounted tales of my brothers, of Mum and Dad, and he had laughed too in a way that had almost made my mouth feel dry.

I strolled through the town, a slight spring in my step as I searched for Míresgalon and Tatharien would be strolling together on their way to meet Cóliel and Gwilithil for lunch. Now, that was a pair I'd not seen coming, yet they seemed to flirt unknowingly and all but they saw it. Tath knew of our hopeless romantic encounter and seemed to keep her heart at a distance, despite knowing full well I had no interest in him nor him me.

"Litawen, over here!" I heard Tath's call and spun, only to collide with a solid chest. I staggered and almost tripped over the hem of my dress, falling flat backwards on to my rear, but an arm reached out to grab my own and pull me back to my feet smoothly.

"Litawen, I do sincerely apologise." Elrohir towered above me as I discreetly dusted my rear and felt my cheeks burn with embarrassment.

"No, please, it is entirely my fault. One day, I shall use the eyes and ears I have been graced with." I rolled my eyes, arranging my dress so it fell correctly again. His eyes were lit with amusement as he offered his arm to me and I took it with a grin, tilting my head a little to look up at him. "So, how are you settling in? It has been two weeks."

"Well enough. I have mostly spent time with my Mother, for I have not seen her in many hundreds of years. Oh, did you have arrangements already this afternoon?" Elrohir stopped just as we were heading from the very centre of the square, busy elves dodging about us as they went about my business.

"Not truly – I was simply finding a way to occupy myself. My brothers are on their first hunt today and Dad... Father said that he wanted them to go without me."

"Do not do that." Elrohir said with a frown right away. "Do not correct yourself as if you have done something wrong."

"It is a habit, my Lord, nothing more." I mumbled, blushing a little as he had caught me out. I made sure to use the necessary honours in public, not wishing to bring any shame upon him or have anyone think I had no manners whatsoever.

"You know my name, so use it." He said bluntly and I felt the smack of nerves in my stomach that I had the very first day when his boat docked in the harbour. "I know you insist upon politeness to the point of nausea, but know that I do not expect nor desire it from you." He said then, contrite.

"Am I to spend most of my time apologising to you, and you to me?" I asked with a slight roll of my eyes as the tension began to ease. The square was full of Lords and Ladies at the market who were now starting to glare quite pointedly, and so I indicated for him to follow me to one of the great stone arches overlooking the pier. "You were in the way." I clarified as he looked at me curiously.

"Oh, I see!" He looked slightly embarrassed then, staring down at his feet for a moment.

"Honestly, the dark looks were directed towards me. When you arrived with Lord Celeborn, I bowled Lord Erestor over completely. I am certain most here think I am a walking disaster." I smiled to show that I was joking, and his expression became less clouded at last.

"Which brings me to my next question – what brings you up the coast? I thought you lived nearer to the great forests and the mountains." He asked curiously, offering me his arm.

"Oh, I do – I had some trading to complete." I explained as we walked the great stone steps to the beach – my preferred route home and much quicker too, for the flatness of the land.

"Really? Tell me a little more about yourself. I confess I find myself intrigued." Elrohir walked by my side along the beach, my favourite spot.

"I did not joke when I say there is little to tell!" I laughed. "I am a huntress by occupation, though often you might find me in the library pursuing my own interests in history."

"A huntress indeed – I take it you favour the bow?" I nodded. "I am not so much a bowman myself nor so much of a patient hunter; I prefer the sword or long-knives. I suppose you take after Haldir in that regard?"

"Yes, Mum is hideous at best with any form of weaponry. I am not quite as skilled as I fear I make myself out to be, but I am adequate enough to perform well in my duties." I winced, realising how swelled I had sounded.

Elrohir looked startled and then laughed outright – the sound causing my stomach to clench curiously in a way I did not truly recognise before. "Ah, you are so different to Haldir sometimes – rather more like Benny, I think. I am certain that you are more than adequate if Haldir, Glorfindel and Legolas all had a hand in your training."

"Glorfindel less so – we had a slight falling out a few years ago and I shot an arrow at his foot. I didn't intend to hit him, of course, but he's been a little hesitant to come near me when I shoot ever since." I admitted and his eyes widened a little.

"Why on earth did you shoot Glorfindel?"

"Shot _at _him; he moved and I was not really aiming for him. I was of a particularly vile mood that day – I was sulking, truth be told. My cousin Tatharien had a suitor and I was feeling rather put out. You may not have noticed yet, but my family and I... we are not so well liked as others." I said the words lightly, but I hoped he would pick up on the subtle implication. He did not need to tie himself in to our family, and if he had any good sense he would not continue to form those connections.

"Litawen, no." He stopped dead, fingers tilting my chin upwards so that I had no choice to meet his eyes. His expression was slightly horrified and I felt the need to placate him as best I could.

"I have a strong backbone, Elrohir." I assured him. "But I would at least have you know what to expect. Glorfindel and J fight every day to stand united, as do Legolas and Tori – even Mum and Dad... Mother and Father, damnation!" I tore myself away from his grasp, kicking off my slippers and lifting my dress. I ran to the edge of the water and let the waves lap at my toes and ankles, the sensation soothing me as it always had.

"I care not for the ill-begotten opinions of others, Litawen. I told you, you have no need to correct yourself around me. I am long used to such speech – Benny, your Aunts... Even you, when you came to Imladris in your youth."

"I remember." I said, and he came to stand beside me as I looked out over the sea. "It must have been a shock to see me so changed."

"A little. last I saw, you were a terror running around in a Ranger's outfit, were you not?"

"Ah yes, from Aragorn." I said thoughtfully, with a slight tinge of sadness. "I think Mum still has it somewhere, carefully preserved, along with the dagger that little Grandfather gave to me. Gimli." I supplied at his slightly blank expression.

"Oh, I see." He looked a little melancholy then, and I reached out with the hand not holding my dress to rest on his arm with a squeeze. "Did you know her very well?"

I knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was speaking of Arwen, and I tried to detach myself a little as I did when I spoke of those who had passed. It was the same way I had spoken of those who had tormented me in my youth. "As well as any child could. I terrorised her halls at every given opportunity, much as I did in Imladris, and I loved her as if she were my own family. I was privileged to know her, and I know that she was happy right until she passed."

"You speak of death so easily." Elrohir said, voice distant, and I dared to take his hand and lace his fingers between mine in a gesture of unfaltering support. I tried remarkably hard to ignore the pleasant warmth of his fingers around mine, engulfing my smaller one, and the butterflies that ravaged me as we stood side by side.

"I have experienced more of death than many elves ever will, and Mum has a singularly unique perspective on it all." I spoke with surety that impressed even me; whilst the words were true, I was surprised I had not stuttered and tripped my way through the sentence. Instead, I focussed on his need to be supported – to know that someone was there for him, and unquestionably I was.

"Gimli passed when I was a little over sixty. Gods, it hurts me even now to think of it." I dropped my dress, caring not if it became wet any further, and pressed against my heart as I closed my eyes. "He brought so much laughter but he kept me grounded too; he helped to remind me that we are all children of the Valar no matter our external trappings. He taught me to throw daggers, to curse in a few older Dwarven tongues – tell Dad and I _will_ hurt you – but more than that he taught me about strength in the face of adversity. He taught me about love that no race and no heart can defy, and about friendship that spans ages even when the body is long gone."

I had to stop then, the words almost choked by tears that threatened. His hand held mine tightly, and I held back with as much strength as I could muster until the worst of it was passed. After a moment longer he dropped my hand, and it felt strangely empty for the absence of his touch. I shook my head slightly, wondering if I had imagined it in the flood of feeling as I remembered my little Grandfather.

"I imagine the sunrise is spectacular from here." He said suddenly, and I felt the heat in my chest again. The words were partly to himself, but I felt compelled to lighten what appeared to be a kindred soul.

"It is, but it is even better a little further down. You should watch it one morning." I kept my voice as steady as I dared to, my eyes fixed on the horizon.

"I think I should. How do you think it will be, perhaps... a week today?" He asked thoughtfully, and I tried not to laugh at his roundabout way of asking me if I might be there too.

"Oh, I think it will be rather spectacular." I contemplated. "I love the sunrise. It reminds me that every day is a new one and it is up to us what we do with it." I confessed and Elrohir flashed me a warm smile, his melancholy gone once more as quickly as it had come.

"I think I rather like you, Litawen." He sounded a little shocked – the same emotion reflecting in his eyes that I had seen when he took my hand at the dock I blushed a little then, and ducked my head so that he might not see it. I was rather unused to any compliments at all, and from one who was creating such interesting stirrings within me?

"I know not quite what to say to that." I decided upon answering, and the laugh that rang true across the beach gave me quite the sense of pride. "Come, I seek to prove to you I am a proficient archer and nothing more."

"Yes, and I shall prove you a liar. Oh, here." He said as we stood back and I took my slippers that he offered, apparently held in his hand the entire time. He offered his arm to me again and I took it, shaking my hair free from my face with a feeling of light within my soul. His eyes shone, a deep grey that was more like starlight as the sun caught them, with flecks of blue glittered beneath.

It was then that I decided Elrohir, son of Elrond, needed to laugh a great deal more. He seemed to have a glint in his eye born for it, and with a laugh so rich and full it sent a shiver down my spine it seemed quite the shame to hide it. We walked the rest of the way to my home engulfed in heady conversation. He was a warrior, a true fighter for freedom and for justice, but he had the heart of a healer within him that I recognised from Mum, Aunt Osellë, and even Nerwen when I chanced to come across her.

"So what do you think you will do now?" I asked curiously as I collected my bow and led Elrohir to the fields Dad and I used most frequently. I stretched my arms a little, knowing that my muscles would seize if I did not warm them first.

"Heal, paperwork for my Father, I genuinely know not. You use a longbow?" His expression was quizzical as I drew my weapon.

"...Yes? I know not why that seems so strange – all of my family use a longbow. I much prefer it." I blinked, notching an arrow and taking aim for the first time, the early afternoon sunlight highlighting the target as I shot. "Oh, messy." I tutted, examining my shot, before doing the same again and watching with a smirk as the arrow landed cleanly – splitting the first. It was my little trick when I wanted to show off – one I'd practised over and over and over again until I could all but do it with my eyes closed.

"I said that you were a liar, but Valar, I did not think you were being quite so modest as you are. Litawen, you are truly skilled with a bow." He said, looking faintly amused.

Elrohir was stood near the target, watching as I hit the precise same spot again and again from different places, different position – even in the trees until I became far too warm. "It is a parlour trick, nothing more. If you truly think I am so good, you would let me take a shot at you!" I held my bow between my knees as I tied my hair high upon my head, joking with him easily.

"I dare you." I stopped dead, turning to look where he stood in front of the target.

"Those are dangerous words." I said carefully but with lightness of tone, notching an arrow whilst he was looking elsewhere. From the corner of my eye I spotted a space above his head where a loop of hair had formed a target, and before he had time to blink I my arrow had landed within the space.

The minute after he simply stared, and then slowly reached up to feel where I had aimed. He found the loop of hair, and when he stepped forward a few fine dark strands remained trapped by the arrow. My hands fairly shook as I approached him, and I was perhaps a little close to him than proper as I reached up to pull the arrow from the board, capturing the five or six strands.

"My prize for the dare, I think." I said, my voice a little hoarse, and as I moved to tuck my arrow away Elrohir's hand grasped my own.

"And this is mine – a reminder never to underestimate you." He twirled the arrow between his fingers as he took it from me. "I did not think you would do it."

"You will soon come to see we are a family who thrives on our dares and wagers. If you want me to do something, the sure-fire way to have it done is to dare me to, or place a bet on it." I teased nervously still, tucking the hairs into a loop and then putting them in the small pocket fashioned into my dress. We still stood very close, and it felt almost... intimate.

"I should go; my Father will be expecting me." His words were hushed, but he made no move to leave and his eyes were still fixed upon my own.

"Then go." I took a breath and stepped away as I did so, a grin capturing my lips. Instead, Elrohir reached around me and pulled the leather tie from my hair, the curls cascading about me uncontrollably.

"I shall, wild one. One week hence, if perchance you happen to walk along the beach in the early morning, you may yet meet a wandering companion." His eyes were soft, and his fingers splayed my curls haphazardly.

"Do not tie your hair back, Litawen. It is not so beautiful constrained as when it is wild and free, rather like the maiden it belongs to." Then was gone from my sight into the trees without as much as a by-your-leave, leaving me perplexed.

"...Litawen?" A voice interrupted my reverie and I spun to see Tatharien standing in the trees. "Who was that elf?"

"That... that was Elrohir, son of Lord Elrond." I said, a little hazed by the strange ending to our otherwise rather enjoyable afternoon encounter.

"That was the elf you are going to fall in love with." She said confidently, which was enough to snap me out of my daze as I thought of his blue-grey eyes and the look of admiration that had graced them as I pulled the arrow from the target.

"Oh, do not be so ridiculous." I scoffed. "Lord Elrond's _son_, need I remind you?"

"Mhhhm. Whatever you say, dear heart. Come, it is time for dinner and your Mother has been badgering me about your whereabouts."

As we walked home, chatting amicably about her afternoon with our friends, my hand still felt curiously empty.

**xxxXxxx**

From the bluff, I could see Elrohir sat on the beach, knees drawn up to his chest with a blanket loose about him. I was not so addled as to try and convince myself he was anything but incredibly handsome, with his dark hair and grey-blue eyes like a storm. I felt that strange tightening of my stomach again as I gazed upon him – something almost like nervousness and excitement all in one.

I had taken the stairs from my home with my family, a small blanket over one arm and a pillar-like candle cupped carefully between my hands so that the wax didn't spill. The steps to the beach were cool under my feet, and the sand driving between my toes was slightly damp from the high tide.

"Don't get up." I said, breaking the silence that was otherwise only interrupted by the lap and rumble of the waves as Elrohir turned to move. His smile was a little tentative – we'd not seen one another since our moment at the range and I was never entirely sure he would come until I saw him from atop the cliffs.

Drawing my blanket about me, I sat next to him on the sand. My feet burrowed deep as I placed the candle between us, and I saw that he too had forgone his boots in favour of feeling the earth beneath us, beating steady and sure just as the waves would crash and the sun would rise.

"You came early. We are about half an hour yet from the sunrise."

"I needed the peace, today. Last night, I gave my Father those letters which my sister sent. She gave them to Benny, but your Mother felt it best that they would come from me." His voice was detached – almost cool.

"They did not take them well, then." I stated, and he shook his head. Without the braids he looked so much more carefree, but the darkness in his eyes I could not escape. It was more than emotional suffering – it was physical pain and I could see him fighting it every step.

"Sing, Litawen. Sing and make my soul lighter."

"How do you know that I sing?" I asked him, leaning back on my hands to look up at the stars which were occasionally hidden beneath a band of cloud.

"I heard you. Three times have I come here, thinking to perhaps call upon you, but I suddenly found I had not the nerve to do it." The more he spoke, the more his pain became apparent and as one we reached out to clasp hands between us.

"You can always come to me, Elrohir." I said with feeling, but his eyes didn't meet mine.

"I know it now, Litawen. Forgive me." The tone of his voice went through me like a knife and I searched for words, anything that might bring him a little solace. I knew his own pain was there, but he had been able to come to terms with it whilst still in Middle Earth. The pain he carried was that of his Father, of his Mother – of all the people who held Queen Arwen so beloved and were now distraught to know of her passing.

I sang a lullaby – one Arwen had sung for me when first she met me, and then whenever I suffered with bad dreams. It spoke the stars to light our path in the darkness, of the dawn racing towards us, and that there was beauty even in the night. The play of light across the sky began then – the water as blue as the very deepest of sapphires, separating from the sky which began to glow in flaming oranges and faint pinks. The clouds that still remained cast shadows about the sky, and as the sun began to peer over the horizon in greeting they looked almost as great mountains.

It brought the same familiar lightness to my heart that it always did – pure and unbridled. It made me feel powerful, full of strength that none could diminish, and I felt Elrohir sit straighter beside me until it appeared that he almost seemed to float. He closed his eyes for a moment as the sun began to touch his face, making his cheeks even more defined and his lashes dark as soot upon his cheek.

"Thank you, my Lady Litawen. A debt now I owe you, and I fear I can never repay it." Elrohir said, a smile back on his face at long last as he teased me a little. When he opened his eyes and his face turned to mine, his eyes looked like liquid silver. My heart began to gallop in my chest as he brought my hand to his lips, kissing my knuckles tenderly. "Your hands are cool."

"They often are, my Lord Elrohir, and ou may thank Mum for that. I can occasionally feel extremes of temperature where others might not. A little human blood remains within me, I think. Not so my brothers, but as she does I sleep with closed eyes and I am not so tall as others and certainly not so fair. If only I had inherited quite so striking looks as she!" I laughed, knowing full well that my wild curls and plain features were not so attractive as her midnight waves and questioning green eyes. I was happy with my appearance, but truly a little extra height and straighter hair would have been entirely welcome just so I could make the most of the fortunate features I did have.

Elrohir looked surprised, but then instead took both of my hands between his, rubbing them slightly to warm the skin. Again I felt my cheeks heat from the action and I gently tugged my hands away, staring out towards the sea again. "So, was it worth it?" I asked teasingly, realising full well that I was changing the subject with all the subtlety of an axe blow.

"Aye, Litawen, it was. Thank you for sharing this with me."

"Remember – every day is a new one. Tonight the stars will come again and you can think of her, and then the sun will rise and you can look to your life ahead. Go to see your family now the grief is not so raw. Should you ever wish to hear stories of her, know that Mum and I have plenty. She would be honoured to tell them."

"I will, and truly you know not what your words mean to me. You are quite an unexpected revelation, but I thank the Valar for it." Somehow he had moved closed to me and his body pressed against my own. For a reason unknown to me, I shifted so that my head was rested upon his shoulder and after only a brief hesitance, I felt his arm come to rest around me. Together we sat in unexpectedly comfortable silence, simply watching the sun come up and listening to the world come to life again around us.

As we said quiet goodbyes and I watched him walk down the beach, I realised that Tatharien was absolutely right. I was falling, and falling quickly, in what I could only describe as love.

"Oh, Litawen?" I turned back to see Elrohir had paused, and was watching me with a curiously teasing expression. "If ever you have cold hands again, do let me know. I am sure I can find ways to warm them!"

My mouth popped open as he turned back and continued his stroll, steps lighter than they been before.

"Well, I never!" I exclaimed, looking at my hands before me which still tingled slightly from the feel of his palms against my own. The utter cheek of that elf!

* * *

**Reviews sincerely appreciated :) What do you think?**


	4. Ninety Nine - Part 2

**Hi! **

**So, the whole "once a week" thing was never going to happen. That was my attempt at pacing myself, which when I get my write-on totally goes out of the window. **

**I also have my induction at my school tomorrow for my Teacher Training which starts in September. Am I procrastinating when I should be washing/ironing my clothes? Perhaps. **

**I adore-adore-adore this chapter. This, and the next one. I'd love to hear your thoughts! I know you're reading out there in the ether, make yourself known to me! :) As always, thank you to my reviewers Horsey, Violin and DeLacus - I love you more than a hobbit loves second breakfast) and to my favourite-ers and lurkers!**

**(I still need ideas for Elladan. Ideally from Arthurian Legend onward.) **

**Love always, **

**MM -x**

* * *

One week, two, and then three passed. A month since our encounter and I saw Elrohir more and more, until it was a rare day indeed that we did not pass one another or converse. He was remarkably intelligent and so quick-witted that sometimes even I felt slow around him.

"Litawen!" He called that morning as I dropped off an order of bread at the seamstress for my Mum – finding any excuse to be in town these days, and full well she knew it. I'd not told her that I had developed a romantic interest in the dark-haired elf yet, but I felt I would have to soon lest she explode from her unquenched curiosity.

"Lord Elrohir." I bowed my head in greeting – knowing full well the scolding the use of his title would get me. I enjoyed his tempestuous moments greatly, for it showed me the fire in him that I so shared which had earned me the names our _trouble _and _dragon_ between those who knew me best.

"Oh, I see – trouble from the start, indeed." He grimaced, taking my arm without even offering it now. It had become such a pleasant habit to bump into him and then spend an afternoon or a morning together, sometimes strolling through town or otherwise going to the beach. Now I came to town on purpose in the hope that we might pass even for just a moment or two.

"I have been thoroughly wound up by the twins all morning, so came to town to run a delivery for Mum. She has been a little busy of late, so I help where I can."

"I could not possibly imagine why twin brothers could be so bothersome." He said thoughtfully and I huffed, smacking his arm. "I jest, I jest!" He rubbed his arm dramatically, earning a laugh from me. "So, what shall we do this afternoon, fair one?"

"It is getting later – perhaps we could search for some food? I confess, I have not taken time to eat since yesterday." I admitted to him and he frowned.

"No wonder you are quite so short if you do not recall to feed yourself!" He cried, lifting me up off the floor as I shrieked a little. "So light, as if you were made of air!" Elrohir laughed as he put me back on my feet again – my knees weak from how closely he'd held me to him. Damnation, I could not let these feelings get in the way of my simple bodily functions no matter how pleasant they might have been.

"Do not do that, you terrible creature." I scolded him, one hand pressed to my heart to calm its racing.

"You shall survive, wild one. Now, let us eat before you disappear entirely."

I wondered if he would take his leave quickly, but instead of a short meal we seemed to end up with pitcher after pitcher of wine and plates of bread and cheese as we talked, joked, and almost wept with laughter until the night became old.

Despite this, he kept a slight distance at all times even when our faces were close over the small table. He would occasionally reach out to brush my hair away from the dancing light of the candle which stood between us, yet when I braided it to keep it from the fire he rolled his eyes and reached over to remove the bindings.

"You know, Elrohir, many a tale I have heard of your debauchery. However with me, you seem positively proper!" I joked, my chin propped upon my hands and he assumed the same position across our small table with quite the naughty smirk.

"You wound me, Litawen. Proper; I? It is all a disguise, I assure you." He rolled his eyes at me and in a fit of slightly drunken childishness I stuck my tongue out at him and he laughed out loud at my silly little faces. "Truly – in the management of Imladris many things changed. Two hundred or so years was enough at the helm to help me understand myself a little more. I confess I was roguish in the past – a prankster, if you will." He said thoughtfully, taking a sip of his wine. "Though I may be accused as much worse, I fear. Most rather unintentional."

"Such as?" I prompted, but knowing what he spoke of. Mum had told many a tale of Elrohir to me from her younger years before I was born – primarily about his ill-fated flirtation with my Aunty J.

He eyed me shrewdly. "You know what, I think. I assure you, those times are long past."

I grinned guiltily. "I may know a little, my Lord." He glowered again and I took a sip of my wine, my head dipping forward to hide the colour that had climbed from my chest to my cheeks before thinking of a tale to tell. "I have been accused of the same, but truly I am not quite so bad as all of that. Mum has a healing gel that is made with a calming draught – I spread it across her sheets when I was thirty five to make sure she slept through the night for once. I pretended I was simply being naughty..."

"A cunning plot indeed! I recall once when I was much younger, Elladan and I had little to do and so we had been searching the pantries for ways to amuse ourselves. We came across the supplies of one of the dressmakers and we found a pot of dye for cloth. Elladan touched a little, and it stained his skin quite thoroughly too as it would material. Of course, can you think of the first thing we did with this information?"

"Oh Valar, who did you dye?" I cringed.

"Father – oh, Litawen, it was a sight to behold!" I covered my face with my hands, peeking out to see him almost crying with laughter.

"What colour?" I dared to ask against my better judgement, and he pointed to my dress. Imagining Lord Elrond dyed a fetching shade of green caused me to cough and splutter and laugh until I could no longer breathe.

"Oh, how I wish I could see it." I held my stomach, feeling warm all over from the wine and from Elrohir's joyous and boisterous tales.

He launched straight into another about his Mother and I let myself become absorbed in his goodness and his happiness, trying hard to ignore the stares and whispers coming from some of the others in the tavern. One lady – a particular witch who sneered each time I brought my kills to the market – sent me a dark look and I could no longer stand it.

"Perhaps I should go, Elrohir." I said quietly, close so that no others could hear me.

"Why... are you unhappy with the company?" He looked pained, and I reached out to grasp his hand in a panic. I couldn't have him think it was him – not when my heart so raced around him, flushes took me, and he made me so truly _happy_.

"No; please know that it is not you. I fear... I fear that it is my company, my presence, which is not so welcome." I said stoically, fighting the desperate sadness. "I told you before, my Lord Elrohir – we are not popular. Whilst never directly ignored, we are perhaps estranged even more so than most Silvan elves. Many see Mother as little more than a Mortal, and her sisters no better." My eyes were downcast and my voice low. "I shall forever have to fight for my place amongst our people, just as she does. I am sorry, I should not have come for I would not have you tarred with the same brush."

I stood to leave but he grabbed my wrist, holding me with a strength I did not expect. "Litawen, I implore you, _sit_. Do not permit them their perverse pleasure and divest me of my own happiness." His words were louder than necessary, and I knew that all those listening would feel properly shamed for they were directed at them.

"Elrohir, please think on what you do." I begged, still stood, my eyes filling a little and my throat tight as often it became when I was fighting back tears.

"I have, and steadfast I so remain. In fact, I think _we_ should go. I suddenly feel the atmosphere rather sour." His eyes, dark as storm-clouds, swept the room with a curl of his lip. He stood smoothly and held out his arm to me, which I took in the blink of an eye and held my head high. I would not shame him, and I would at least try to prove I was worthy of the honour his company afforded me.

Out in the courtyard, the warm air of summer hit me and I forced myself to relax. I couldn't face him, instead walking by his side until he broke the silence.

"I did not lie, Litawen. I remain steadfast and by your side – their lack of manners appals me and I find it quite abhorrent that they feel their behaviour acceptable. Benny saved their lives, and still they act as if she is little more than a distasteful curiosity. And you!" He cried, spinning me and holding my shoulders. "You let them do it – you defend your Mother, this I know, but do you never defend yourself?"

"I would rather not draw any more attention to myself than strictly necessary. I can walk away – I will not sink to their level and fall into bickering." I crossed my arms, grasping at the material of my dress so tightly I feared it might tear.

"Oh, Litawen. It is one thing to be so strong as you are, but I suppose it is quite another to be able to walk away." He sighed, and then I was bundled in his arms and I held on to him as if I were a woman drowning, finally the frustrated tears that I had kept at bay breaking.

"I hate to cry, Valar – I look such a fool." I spoke into his tunic and he chuckled, arms about me as his chin rested upon my crown. "I am sorry I have ruined such a wonderful evening."

"Never. I am glad that I was here with you now more than ever – it really was wonderful. It _is_ wonderful, despite this brief moment." Elrohir stood back and then examined my face for the tears that had quickly dried. "Come, I shall walk you home."

"It shall be a longer walk – the tide will be high by now so we must take the land."

"Then I have another hour in your company; I shall count myself fortunate indeed." Elrohir took my arm again and we walked together in contemplative silence. "I feared for a moment you truly no longer desired my company."

"No, never." I swore, lifting my skirts as I avoided a particularly muddy spot on the path. "I did not want for you to see truly how they can be."

"There is no need for such nobility, kindly though it was meant. Do you always care of all others before yourself?" Elrohir asked and I flinched. "No, I did not mean that Lita. I wondered simply how I came to find such unfaltering goodness."

"I think my tales this evening proved quite thoroughly I am not quite so good as you seem to think!" I laughed incredulously, and caught his eye as he offered a naughty wink.

"But that is when you are at your greatest – when you roam wild and free." I did the same back and he laughed outright as I span away, letting my dress flare out about me – the wine was talking more than I was, but Valar, it was so much fun to let it. I kicked off my slippers then and held them in one hand, lifting my dress with the other.

"Fine then, if you believe so – race you." I flashed him a grin and then I was off, hair flying free behind me.

I knew he would catch me; not so soon as I had expected, but he did catch me and I felt his arms around my waist only a few minutes before we would have reached home. He pulled me back to him, and I felt the slight pant of his breath as he spoke in my ear.

"You know the terrain and have quite the unfair advantage, my wild one. Next time, you shall not best me so easily."

Gods, but his voice and the closeness of his lips against my skin made my knees weak once more. Now was the time. Now, when we were both emboldened by drink, and when the fires kindled within us by both joy and righteous anger were burning bright. Now was the time to be daring, and ask the question that settled within my heart so completely.

"Do you truly want there to be a next time?" I turned to face him, chin tilted upwards in as much of an attitude of defiance as I could manage.

His eyes roved my face searchingly, his lips parted slightly almost as if the question shocked him. "How can you even think that I would want anything but... Valar, _Yes_." His voice was like a hiss on the wind, and I felt my breath catch in my throat as his lips touched my cheek. My eyes were closed for but a brief moment as I swayed, but the distraction that lasted but a few seconds was enough for when I opened them again, he was gone.

"How was Elrohir?" Mum asked as soon as I entered the door, my eyes slightly glazed still from the touch of his lips against my skin. I raised a hand to the spot where he had kissed me, feeling the ghost of their gentle pressure still against my cheek, just as the wings of a butterfly kissed the air.

"Litawen?" She prompted, elegant brows arched. I dropped my hand and gazed at my fingers as if they were a curious attachment to my body, for a strange tingling and numbness had begun to set in as well as a slight nausea.

Perhaps I was more drunk than I thought.

"I... Fine. He was fine. I must..." I floundered, and she stood to take my arms. "Where is Dad?"

"Playing cards with Legolas and Glorfindel, to keep your poor Aunty J and her bump free for an evening of his smothering. You drunk?" she snorted, and then sighed before pottering into the kitchen. "Get ready for bed, trouble. I'll bring you some tea and then you can rest your poor head."

I struggled to change into my nightgown, my fingers stumbling. Mum thought I was rather addled with drink, and perhaps I was, but what was stunning me more was that not only had he said that he wanted to see me again, and that he had dared to kiss my cheek, but that he had defended me against those who thought the very worst of my family.

He did not care.

I sat on my bed, finally dressed in my cotton and gossamer nightclothes, and let my fingers trail across the bedspread – elegantly embroidered sheets of deep sapphire blue with waves curling across them. My own little space in a home so filled with noise, and one I feared I was beginning to outgrow. I loved by brothers, I loved Mum and Dad, but I needed my own space more and more and it was becoming time for me to voice it.

I glanced up as my Mum came in, and she passed me a glass filled with clear liquid. I drank it in a few gulps and felt her familiar brew soothe me, before her hands replaced it with a warm mug.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked and I shook my head, drinking the chamomile tea in slow sips.

"I am not yet ready. I will, I swear this to you, but at this moment I fear I need rest and to sleep off the wine." I laughed, still exhilarated, and she sat on my bed before pulling me back to curl up against her. "It is as if I am a child of thirty summers again."

"You will always be my little Lita, even now when you're full grown and nearly one hundred, or even when you're one thousand. Now sleep, you drunken fool of a woman." She chuckled and I felt her press a tender kiss to my forehead before I fell soundly asleep in her arms.

**xxxXxxx**

"Hello, little Grandfather." I let out a long breath after having hiked all afternoon through the lower parts of the great mountains which separated the east coast of Aman from the rest of the land. We had lain him to rest in a great cave hewn from the rock, his body in a tomb of stone; a fitting resting place for the Dwarf Lord I had so loved.

"I feel strange. I think there is an elf who I am interested in, but it is so improper and I do not know what to do. I could never expect someone of so high a station to take any interest in me." I touched the stone which covered the entrance to his tomb, my fingers catching on the carvings. The Lady Galadriel herself had made the carving, with words written in honour of him by those of us who knew him best

_Love, strength, and friendship  
__All these things did Gimli son of Gloin hold dear  
__And so back to the arms of the Valar does he take them._

Following the inscription was a list of his accolades and accomplishments, and captured in a clear gem were the hairs granted to him by the Lady Galadriel at the time of his death, to match those he had been granted in Lothlorien.

"I know what you would say, I think. I think you would tell me to get on with it and sod the rest." I chuckled, imagining his rough voice saying the very words to me. "Yet it seems so difficult. I told him of you, and of how dear to my heart you still are. Oh, how I miss you. We all miss you – your booming laugh and your penchant for ale, and still your heart." I sat down by the entrance, my head resting against the stone. There was a slight chill in the air, but nothing that was too extreme.

"Can I sit here with you for a while, little Grandfather?" I asked, and I imagined I heard his agreement as I leaned back against the stone.

For an hour I sat, sometimes talking to him and sometimes not, brushing away the occasional tear until I finally came to a decision. I stood and placed a kiss upon the clear glass which encased Galadriel's hair. "I love you, and I'll come and see you again soon."

I liked Elrohir – there was no denying it. Now, I needed to see where my heart would lead me. Down through the mountains I climbed until I came home in the early evening – the sound of my home filled with song and the scent of fresh bread filling me with a feeling of contentment.

"Hi Litawen, where have you been?" Mum asked as I entered the door.

"Into the mountains." I said by way of explanation, and the confusion cleared from her expression.

"Oh, I see. Do you want any dinner?" She asked as I turned to walk to my rooms, and I shook my head.

"No, thank you. I just want to sit and think for a while." I heard her drop what she was doing and then her arms were around me, holding me close in a firm embrace.

"I love you, trouble. You know where I am if you want to talk." Her fingers brushed a few curls away from my face. I forced back the tears that were trying to break free, and then gave a quiet sob as one finally escaped. She sighed and drew me closer again, stroking my hair and back soothingly. "Get a little bit of rest, Lita. You'll feel better for it."

"I will. I love you too, Mummy." I said with a slight hiccup, a small but teasing smile upon my face. She rolled her eyes at the name and gave me a push towards my rooms, and I closed my door behind me.

On my bed were three roses, each a pale shade that was somewhere between pink and peach. It was beautiful and unique, and the scent was both sweet and deep from the bloom. Attached to them was a note and I held it up, reading the sweeping cursive text with a frown that eventually gave way to a gasp.

_Because of their colour these roses had been left untouched at a stall I happened to pass by at the bay, wondering where the lovely Lady Litawen might be.  
__Can you believe that? I rather think they are quite lovely, and they reminded me of you.  
__Like these roses you are beautiful, and you are quite perfect as you are.  
__Be wild, be free, and above all; be yourself.  
__ - E_

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes once before putting the flowers upon my dressing table with a slightly dreamy smile.

This was more than simply liking Elrohir. This was not simply falling, either. I had somehow managed to stumble into being quite in love with him in but two months of making his acquaintance.

_Well... shit._ The little voice, the voice that sounded remarkably like my Mother, piped up.

Picking up the roses and the letter again, I packed a bag as often I had in my childhood and leapt out of my window to the forest floor, my feet landing silently upon the grass. I made my way to Tatharien's and clambered through the trees to her balcony, knocking as I used to do as a younger lady.

"Litawen?" Her head popped around the door with a frown, her fair hair braided about her. "Dearest, you look as if you have succumbed to some illness. What on earth is wrong?" I fished in my bag and held out the roses, still bound with string and the note attached. She read it and looked up at me sharply before pulling me in.

"Mother!" She called, leading me through her room into their family room. Aunt Osellë looked up from her book, saw my curiously dazed expression and the way my eyes lingered on the roses, and sighed.

"Should you not be speaking to Bernadette on this first, Niece of mine?"

"I know not that I can. The identity of the Lord in question may be a sensitive topic, if I recall some of her stories correctly." I took the glass from Uncle Orophin, and then I eyed the three of them carefully. "Do you promise not to tell Mum and Dad?"

"On this you can be assured our secrecy." Tath promised, as did my Aunt and Uncle.

"Elrohir. I fear I am falling quite irrevocably in love with Lord Elrohir." The silence that followed was truly deafening, all but for Tath's sigh as she touched the roses reverently before passing them to her Mother who read the note with rapid flicks of her eyes.

"Start from the beginning, Litawen. The shock here is that we did not know you were even truly acquainted." Orophin said tactfully.

"That is where you are so very, very wrong." I felt my lips tug into a smile again, and I heard my Aunt's sigh at my dreamlike expression. "We have met every week, and in the last month almost every day, since he came to these shores."

I launched into my tale, sipping wine occasionally, until I had come to the end of my story and the finding of the roses before us in my rooms.

"On this I will be frank – if he does not love you, I shall kill him. The good news is that I think he does sincerely like you, Litawen. If it is true as you say and you have spent more and more time together, then I think you should quite seriously consider speaking to Haldir and Bernadette on this."

"I thought perhaps you might say that. I may speak of it with Mum first, but despite this gesture still I fear he toys with me. I am not so young, it is true, but it is rather that I fear he will turn and flee. He defended me last night, but will he tire of doing so each and every time we go out?"

"Not if he loves you, Litawen." Tath said, reaching out to take my hand. "I shall never tire of doing so, and you are as a sister to me. Closer even than that, perhaps. I love you and I want you to be happy. If you think that Lord Elrohir may bring that happiness to you, then I shall do everything in my power to make it as easy for you as I can. So will we all."

My eyes roved to my Aunt and Uncle, who nodded with steadfast expressions of love on their face. "Thank you – thank you all. Tomorrow, I shall speak with Mum on this and help my heart to decide truly what it desires."

"Stay here tonight, Lita. I shall put these in water, let you collect your thoughts, and then tomorrow speak to Benny." Osellë advised me, and I nodded.

Sleep did not come easily, for I was fraught with nerves. It was only when the light of the stars filtered through the open window did I find a little peace, and then when the morning came I was quickly ushered away with my roses retied after being carefully kept in water.

"Thank you." I told Tath sincerely as I tucked the stems reverently into my bag. She rolled her eyes and pushed me from the door with my family looking on with equal expression of fondness. I lingered and tarried all the way home, avoiding the stairs, until I could do no more but face my Mother and admit the feelings in my heart.

"Mummy?" I asked timidly, using the childlike name for her as she looked up from her book.

"Little Lita? Welcome back – you disappeared last night." She teased back, but sensed my unease and placed her book down as I came to sit opposite her. "What's playing on your mind?"

"I think I may... Well, that is to say, I think I rather, well. I think I rather like Elrohir. A lot." My words came out in a tumble, and her eyebrows shot upwards.

"Really now?"

"Yes, yes I suppose so. I recall you told me stories in playfulness about how he and Glorfindel competed for Aunt Jade, but I know not what to do. I would follow my heart, but my head tells me that I should flee." I admitted, knotting my hands together. Mother came to sit beside me, pulling my hands apart and grasping them in her own.

"He is a great person, he was one of my very first friends here, but... I couldn't bear to see him hurt you." Mum had cupped my face, thumb running across my cheek. "That said, not all affairs in love go the way we expect. You must listen to your head, yes, but sometimes you need to let your heart make its own decisions."

"I know it. I would speak to Aunt J, but I know not what her reception would be."

Mum chuckled, running fingers through my hair gently. "She would tell you he's an arse and that he is so far up his own rear he can see the sun out of the other side. He is, don't doubt it for a minute, but he is also gentle and kind and funny. Only you can decide how you should proceed, darling."

I giggled at her crudeness, glad that she was so understanding. "I.. I may confront him. Ask him what intentions he has." I said finally, and she nodded with a hint of pride.

"Sensible, but do not let his answers rule you one way or the other. Actions speak where words cannot." She said wisely, and I felt my heart clench in my chest as I took the roses which had been in water overnight from my bag.

"An action like this, perhaps?" I offered timidly, and she took the flowers to read the note which was still tied about them with brown string.

"Yes." She said faintly, smelling the blooms with closed eyes. "Yes, a gesture like this might just do the trick. Lita – I know you've been meeting with him, I've seen the two of you on the beach often enough. I just can't seem to connect all of the dots. I know you might want to keep this private and if you do that's absolutely fine, but would you tell me?"

I blushed, taking the roses from her and standing to put them in water. We didn't have a vase free, but we did have an old glass milk-bottle which stood clean upon the counter. I filled it with water from the pitcher we kept full, and carefully arranged the three stems so that they stood with the note holding them together. She knew not to pry, and I felt that I owed her everything.

"It began that day on the pier. He touched my hand, and I swear to you that I felt something akin to fire flare through our fingertips. I saw his eyes widen and I knew, Mum; I knew that there was something between us that could not simply be put into words. After that, we quite literally collided in town and I took him to the beach."

Mother watched me carefully as I let my fingertips sweep over the blooms in repetitive motions. "And then...?"

"We watched the sun rise. We spoke of Arwen – he gave the letters to his family the night before and it was difficult for him. I told a few tales, I told him of Gimli... and I told him that when the stars shine he can always remember her, and when the sun then rises it is a new day full of new opportunities." My voice was hushed as our eyes met, and she stood to take my hands over the counter.

"You very rarely talk about Gimli, nor share your sunrises with anyone. Litawen, tell me the truth. This is more than just liking Elrohir, isn't it? It is much, much bigger than that."

"Yes." My reply was quiet but sure as her green eyes met my own grey ones. "Yes, I think so."

I watched as her eyes welled with tears, a lopsided smile capturing her lips. "I am so happy for you, trouble. Have you spoken about it with him?"

"No – I would have known your thoughts first on it." I reached out to brush her tears away, and she laughed a little as I did so.

"I think you will love, and love forever. I doubt even Glorfindel could have picked better for you." She ran her fingers through my curls, golden and free about me. "Now, put those in your room before your Dad sees them, and let's keep this just between us for now, hmm? The last thing we need is him telling Elrohir you love him before you do."

"Gods, can you imagine the look on his face?" I giggled uncontrollably then and she did the same as I twirled, makeshift vase in hand, into my bedroom. I paused as I placed the roses down, and then returned to the front room where she watched still, an amused smile on her lips.

"If I might say; you do not look surprised." She laughed outright then, coming to take my hands in her own.

"I'm not. I knew when you came in piss-arse drunk the other night that something might be going on. That's why I held you as you slept – one last night with my eldest one like I did when you were a little girl." She said wistfully. "I imagine you're thinking of moving out soon, too."

"How do you know that?"

"Lita, I _always_ know. You're my eldest one, and I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love another person. You grew within me; I've cared for you, watched you grow..." She stopped, her eyes shining a little despite the smile she wore. "I'm your Mum, and despite how like your Dad you are, you are a part of me. How could I not know?"

I felt my heart in my throat as she spoke – her voice not laced with sadness, but with such joy that it made my heart full. "I am so proud of you, Litawen, of everything you've done and everything you've overcome. You deserve someone who loves you completely, and whose fire matches your own. Really, when you think about it, he is the only one I'd ever think good enough for you."

"Thank you." I was overcome then, and I threw my arms about her in a hug that I had no intention of leaving for a good long while – even when Dad came in and gave us his usual look as he put his bow down.

"What has you pair so doe-eyed and... Valar, are you both _crying_?" He spoke the words with distaste and I laughed again, completely done in by my newly discovered and admitted love.

"Nothing, sweet." Mum gave me a sly wink then as she let me go and wiped her eyes a little, the door to my room closed so that I could enjoy my secrets just a little longer.

* * *

**What do you think? Reviews so appreciated, you don't even know.**

**Elrond in green is my favourite mental image... Probably EVER, if I'm honest. **


	5. Litawen at One Hundred

**Hi everyone! **

**The reviews are so amazing, I'm glad people are reading and enjoying! My school visit was awesome - I start on the 1st of September and I'll be looking after my own form group of Year 9's (age 13-14). I'm terrified. **

**Lots of love, and tell me what you think!  
(The answer is 'yes Miss', in case you're wondering :p)**

**MM -x**

* * *

"_There shall never be room in my heart or thoughts for any but you." He swore against my lips. "I am matched at last." _

_I felt a laugh bubble from my chest as he lifted and twirled me around him. Placing me upon my feet he took me in a hold and we danced together under the stars to a music all of our own, occasionally broken with kisses and conversation. _

"_Now it is decided, I perhaps should inform you that I intend to marry you, and your Father will probably kill me, and then you shall have to mourn my loss for eternity." Elrohir teased and I thumped his arm. _

"_Marriage? Come now, it is simply good manners to advise me of your feelings first!" I laughed at his wink as I span under his arm, barely having to duck for my low height._

"_Oh, have I not? I love you, Litawen. Quite profoundly and eternally, I fear. It is such a shame that Haldir will kill me, for I do not wish to break your heart." _

_I could not stop the slight welling of tears as emotion overtook me. "To say that my heart would break, you must be quite confident that you have my love." I said lightly despite it the wobble that threatened. His face became a little more serious as he cupped my cheek, brushing away the tear that had escaped. _

"_Do I?" He asked. The gardens had become a little more full and I heard light conversation, as well as giggles and gasps which were quite obviously directed at us. _

"_You do. Always." I promised, and was swept up once more into a kiss that made my knees weak and heart race._

**~*~X~*~**

_I love you, _and _I intend to marry you. I love you, _and_ I intend to marry you. _The words swirled in my head as Elrohir held me, kissing me as if the dawn would not come. I could feel the strength of his hands at my hips – ones far more used to holding a sword than a woman, despite his flirting and teasing.

"Breathe, Elrohir. I love you, but I must breathe." I tore my lips away from his but remained close still, watching as his dark lashes lifted from his cheek. It revealed the blue-grey pools beneath which enchanted me thoroughly, and his lips parted slightly as he too sought the coolness of the air.

"Say it again, Litawen."

"I love you." I laughed and his lips caught my own over and over, one hand again at my hip and the other delving into the mass of hair about me.

"Lita?" I heard a voice call across the courtyard as Elrohir and I stood together by the pool on the evening of my begetting day celebration. It had become rather suspiciously empty quickly once the gossips had ceased – a little privacy afforded to us.

"Daddy?" I responded, sickly sweet, and Elrohir tried to scramble away. "Stop it, he won't shoot you." I scolded him lightly.

"If you say so, love." He spoke under his breath and I glanced up at him, my eyes meeting his.

"I rather think _I_ am the one who will shoot you if you suddenly become skittish." I hissed to him, and then waved to my Dad who spotted us together. A single fair brow rose but he said nothing further as I laced my fingers with Elrohir's, and he squeezed gently in a gesture of support.

"Lord Elrohir." He bowed his head in greeting, and then turned to me. "Litawen, I would have you come into the hall. We have a surprise for you."

"What?" I asked curiously, and Dad rolled his eyes.

"The nature of a surprise is just that, darling. Follow, or do not, but be assured that if you do not your Mother shall be most put out."

There was only one thing Mum could do to make this day any better. She had been caged for so long, and despite the arguments she had been too reserved to perform in public as she had in her youth in Mirkwood. Even my Father looked truly pleased by the prospect as he beckoned me to come into the hall before escaping the gardens.

It mattered not that we were for the most part amongst family, friends, and those who already loved us; this was a momentous day for her as well as for me. I felt my heart become giddy and I spun to face Elrohir. "She is going to sing, at long last." I gasped, my free hand pressed to my heart.

"Then we must not miss this – she will be fraught with nerves if I have come to know her at all."

"I forget you were her friend long before she came to Lothlorien." I confessed as I let him lead me through to the hall again, hands still clasped. "Does it ever seem strange to you?" I indicated to our hands and he offered a lopsided smile.

"Well, you _are _strange." He mused, and I thumped him solidly. "Now, clearly this need for excessive violence is a family trait. I should bind your hands."

"Ah, is that a promise Elrohir?" The words escaped my mouth before I had a chance to truly recall who I was with. His brows simply rose, nothing more, and then his lips were on mine right in the hallway for all to see without giving me time to blush at how forward I had been.

"Stop sucking face, Lita, or your Mum will kill you." I looked up and saw Aunty Tori leaning against a wall. Elrohir laughed outright at her forthright address of our embrace.

"You are so eloquent, it is a wonder indeed that you manage to appear as a woman." I retorted as I was prone to and she gestured to her dress and freely flowing hair.

"Hey, is this not ladylike? Your Uncle Legolas certainly thinks so." Her eyes became heated then, her smile quite the devilish one.

"Valar, desist! I need not know of your intimacies." I waved her away with a grimace, and beside me Elrohir laughed as he reached to hold me again.

"You have five minutes – if you aren't at the front of the hall you'll make your Mum cry and Osellë will kill you. So will your Grandparents, Aunty J... and me, come to think of it. Not even he can save you, especially from the pregnant one." She pointed at Elrohir who was still far too amused for my liking.

"Ai, I understand!" I threw both my hands up in defeat. "We were on the way there anyway." Tori nodded once and slipped back through the door she'd entered. "Ah, my family. Are you certain you wish to tie yourself to this madness?" I was only half joking, and Elrohir seemed to know it.

"Indeed. I am perfectly aware, and I love you all the more for it." Elrohir offered his hand again and I took it, a thrill running through me as his larger hand held my own so firmly. "Lead on, love." His fingers squeezed once before he brought my hand to his lips.

She was stood by the musicians, clad in silver with her dark hair a fan around her – she looked like starlight in elven form to me and as I pushed through to the front of the crowd that had gathered she caught my eye with a wink.

"Now the guest of honour has elected to return to us, I have been hounded and hounded to do something this evening so I have finally relented to keep you little demons off my back." I grinned at her and she did the same, laughter rising about us at her easy teasing and undeniable presence. "My beautiful daughter is now full grown and I could not be prouder of her. She has brought joy to every life she touches and I am certain she will continue to do so, as well as ensuring a swift arrow to the foot to anyone who dares cross her."

"The foot is the polite version." I dared to heckle her sensing her nerves and she laughed outright as did the crowd behind me, Uncles and brothers surrounding me and patting my shoulder in solidarity. The dark looks at Elrohir from both Callon and Gelluion were not lost on me.

"Absolutely. So, as many of you know, I am a child of two times and have raised my family to know both. This is a song which my family – all of them – will know. I encourage you, if you do not know our tongue, to find one of them and they will of course provide a translation. Alternatively, and note that this is my preferred method, simply listen with your heart."

She stepped back a little, picking up a flute and blowing. I knew the song from that note alone, the lullaby she had sung to me every night when I was little and that she had named as my song. From the shadows then did her sisters step forth, Aunty J swelled with child and hand-in-hand with her twin. My Grandmother and Grandfather stood by her side and I longed to be upon the small raised platform with them.

"_Come over the hills, my bonny Irish lass; come over the hills to your darling. You choose the road, love, and I'll make the vow; that I'll be your true love forever."_

My lips formed the words automatically, and I felt Elrohir stand straighter by my side as my heart flew completely free. I saw him trying to understand, and I turned to him and met his eyes. I tried as best I could to sing the words in Sindarin, sometimes struggling to fit them, but it was worth it for the warmth that shone from Elrohir's face.

As Mum sang, surrounded by my family in harmony, I felt a change in the atmosphere around us. Those who were not so close, or invited as guests, had never seen this side of her and right then I wanted it for her more than I ever did for me. A gentle murmur took the room – some who spoke our tongue providing a translation, others listening with their hearts open as she had suggested.

"_It was d__own__ by Killarney's green woods that we strayed, the moon and the stars they were shining; the moon shone its rays on her locks of golden hair, and she swore she'd be my love forever._

_Red is the rose that in yonder garden grows, fair is the lily of the valley; clear is the water that flows from the Boyne, but my love is fairer than any."_

She sang and sang in deep and mesmerising harmony with the family I so adored until the song was spent. The applause after was scattered at first, but then swelled louder and louder until she looked ready to flee the stage but for the last words she had saved, the words just for me. "So, as they will say in many thousands of years to come: Happy Birthday, eldest one. I love you forever."

She dashed away before any could stop her, and by my side I felt an arm about my waist whilst Elrohir still held my hand. "She knows not what she has unleashed, does she?" I asked Glorfindel, who shook his head with a knowing smirk.

"Not at all. I should not wonder that she shall suddenly find herself with more employment as a musician than she has time in a day."

"Why do people so scorn us, Uncle, when such joy as this they are divesting themselves of?" I sighed, and I felt Elrohir's fingers tighten about mine.

"They apparently lack all manners that their breeding has afforded them, little Lita. They have not taken the time to see any further than that which they already believe to be true, and it is high time that changed." Elrohir nodded beside me – clearly in complete agreement.

"You did this, didn't you?" I accused him and his brows rose. "You did! She will _not _thank you. Run, and run quickly. I will save your sorry hide _again_."

"As wise as you are fair, Niece of mine." He pulled one of my curls and let it spring back before slipping into the milling, chattering elves that filled the hall.

"Come – I have not danced with you all evening and if I hope to persuade your Father that he should permit me to marry you, I must at least appear to have some manners." Elrohir sad to try and diffuse my tension – his eyes bright and words charming enough to distract me just as I needed.

I took his hand and let him sweep me in a dance with a laugh. "He has little say, Elrohir. Mum is content, and if she is then Dad will be too."

"How is it that she... never mind." He realised sheepishly that I would have told her all in a heartbeat. "I recall Benny may not have always the fondest opinion of me – what did you say to her?"

"I spoke the truth, nothing more. That I thought I rather liked you. Valar, that was about a month ago now." I confessed thoughtfully. "The day you sent me those roses, after I had been to visit little Grandfather. I knew then that there was something more within my heart – or rather, I finally confessed to myself that there was." Elrohir grinned.

"A month? Then why did you lead me on such a merry dance if you thought you liked me well enough to speak on the matter with Benny?"

"Because you are a tease and a terrible flirt and I had no intention of upsetting myself." I said promptly, spinning under his arm with a wink as I followed the steps of the dance. "So naturally, I had to ask around."

"You are no better. I hear her call you trouble and I am certain it is precisely what you are."

"And yet you love me anyway." I span again and then he pulled me flush against him, deciding to forego the dance all together.

"And yet I love you anyway." He confirmed. "Would it be so very terrible if I kissed you in a room full of people?"

"Yes, but you should do it all the same. Perhaps it will distract everyone from my poor Mum."

"You truly are trouble, are you not?" He whispered against my lips and then kissed me, holding me as tightly as he possibly could. His hands remained firmly at my waist, but my own tangled in his hair which was so soft to the touch. The chatter around us only increased, and then I giggled outright as I heard a voice carry across to us.

"Ha! Pay up."

"Do you think it would kill them to have any manners about their wagers?" I asked him and he shrugged as if it were nothing out of the ordinary.

"I wonder what they wagered on, and who instigated it?"

"Well, that was Mum. I suspect it wasn't on if we would choose to court, but when it would happen. She had prior knowledge, however, so I suppose she did technically cheat..." I mused, glancing as Aunty J, Legolas and Aunty Osellë all pressed coins into her outstretched hand. "Yes, I rather think so. I should out her ill manners."

"Well, they were all wrong. I intend to skip right to the engagement, as I said. I could not stomach the thought of being thoroughly stalked as your poor Mother was with your Father."

"Ah, the Legolas approach then. You intend to ask me to marry you without a ring, and then give it to me at a date which suits you; perhaps when I am sleeping. I find that agreeable." I said nonchalantly and he smirked.

"Well, not quite." He reached into his pocket and pressed a soft leather bag into my palm. "Do not decide right away – talk it out with Benny as you will. I shall give you time to think on what it is that I ask." He pressed a kiss to my forehead and then took a step back – eyes veiled but still that smile upon his face. "I shall see you in a week exactly, love. Providing I can stand to be away from you for so long."

I peered in the bag and my heart fairly stopped in my chest. "Elrohir, do you really mean..." I began but as I looked up, I saw he was gone. "Well, bloody hell." I fell into English, no words in Sindarin conveying otherwise my utter disbelief.

"I'll say." I felt a chin rest on my shoulder as Mum peered into the small bag I held. "God damn it, he actually asked you. I didn't think he would."

"You _knew_ about this?" I asked with a slight cry.

"Well, obviously. I'm your Mum, I'm practically omnipotent when it comes to you – and he totally asked me. Now, do you want to talk about it?" She asked me, arms going about my waist as still I stared.

Betrothal rings. Besides my beautiful locket, he had gifted me with betrothal rings.

"Tomorrow, there is someone I will speak to on this. For now, know that... know that I love him, and he loves me."

"Beware the fire-breathing pregnant lady then." Mum said wisely. "Your Dad and I have one final present for you – it's why he's been away so much the last month. We were going to wait until tomorrow but now seems as good a time as any."

"I thought he was over the mountains with Lady Galadriel?" I stared, and Mum shook her head.

"Nope. Come on." She took my hand in hers and led me from the party. Father spotted us as we left and joined me, along with both Callon and Gelluion who looked far too excited as we walked.

"We know how much you value your space, and so we thought perhaps it was high time you were granted it." Father began, and Callon brightened.

"Yes, and I no longer wish to share a room with Gel... Ow!" He was promptly tackled sideways by his twin whilst Father glared at them both witheringly as Cal cursed loudly. Both boys looked sheepish and stood, brushing themselves off before following – only occasionally sharing irritated looks and not particularly subtle punches to the arm. We walked past where our home was, and continued a little further down the coast where the woods drew closer still to the cliffs.

"That said – our final gift to you, our daughter now full grown. Out huntress, our dragon... our Litawen." Father handed me something in a small box, and I tilted my head with a frown before gaping as I saw the gift I held in cupped palms. We came to stop below one of the great mellryn I had always called home, right by the edge of the forest with a clear view out to the sea.

My eyes drifted upwards and above me was a dainty flet I had not noticed before, circular and lit from the inside so that it looked ethereal. My hand flew to my mouth and I leaned against Father for support as Mum tucked herself into my arms with a tear or two in her own eyes.

In my hands, shining yet solid, was a key.

**xxxXxxx**

"Aunty J?" I knocked on the door, daring to look inside just as she looked up from her book. She smiled warmly at me, standing slowly encumbered by my darling cousin inside of her. "How are you?"

"Fat." She complained, patting her stomach. "Come on, sit down. I promise not to rip your head off."

"What a pleasant image." I winked, sitting down next to her as she lowered herself again. "You are surely due soon."

"I hope so; I've forgotten what my feet look like. Now talk, you're here for a reason." She eyed me carefully.

"I know not where to start." I floundered, waving my hands awkwardly. "Gods, but this is strange."

"Ah, not really. Let me tell you a bit about Elrohir and I, and we can go from there. We met in Lothlorien, and genuinely he was a flirt and he made me laugh which was something I'd not really had for a while. I didn't realise at first he liked me at all; he didn't seem to behave differently with anyone else. Then in Gondor... he kissed me. By that time, I was in serious 'like' with Glorfindel." She frowned. "And in denial about it too, but still."

I laughed outright, and then covered my mouth with my hand. "I apologise, that was rude."

"No, it wasn't." She said drily. "It was only after we exchanged letters for the best part of a year we admitted it to one another. I'll admit, I was... surprised, about Elrohir." She began, but not with the frown as I'd thought but with a smile. "We forgave each other a very long time ago, when I still lived in Rivendell, and totally agreed we were all wrong for each other. It was a fleeting fancy on his part, and me thinking he was kind of cute, but nothing else."

"Why would you be surprised? I confess, we seem quite a... a reasonable pair."

"Yes, that's precisely why I was surprised. Elrohir when I last saw him – he was different, very different to how he is now. Something has changed for him, and for him to come here without Elladan?" she stopped, her eyes getting a faraway look. "It isn't an easy decision to make, Lita, to leave your twin. They're like the other half of your brain. I worry he's trying to fill that gap."

"I can understand why you might think that. I have thought the same myself." I sat back, a sigh escaping my lips.

"I sense a 'but'. What is your gut feeling, Lita?" She asked, turning towards me and putting her bare feet upon my lap.

"That his intentions are true. I remember when he came off the boat – he clearly wasn't expecting it. He took my hand and it was as if... as if there was a connection. A fire between us that has only grown"

"If it's any consolation, Glorfindel is stalking you and thinks the same – oh, don't give me that look, he's used to Elrohir's hijinks. Your Mum thinks the same too; we had a chat about it the day of your party." She shrugged, and I rubbed her feet and ankles for her in soothing motions until she groaned out loud. "Sod Elrohir, I'm chaining you to this sofa for foot massages on tap."

"Ah, I'll do these free of charge for you – no need for chains, I promise." I grinned. "Mum has a salve, you know. She used it when she was expecting the boys." My little brothers had been six weeks early, but at her largest she had barely been able to touch her fingers about her abdomen – it had played havoc on her poor legs and feet, not to mention her back.

"You tell me this _now_? Tell her she can bring me a batch the next time she sees me. Anyway, you don't need my permission to be with Elrohir. Do you love him?"

"Unquestionably." I said, as if it was obvious, and I watched her eyes soften as she sat up.

"And does he love you?"

"I believe he does, absolutely." The more I spoke of it, the more I was certain of his feelings. He would not have been so free about it. "He... He gave me these. He told me to make a decision and to take my time about it." I passed her the bag I carried with me permanently. She peeked inside and her eyebrows rose before she laughed, passing it back.

"I can see why you probably believe him - I would too. Ignore the rest of the idiots who try to convince you otherwise, and for God's sake put the poor man out of his misery. For what it's worth I think you will make him happy, and he you."

"He told me to seek him out today, when my decision was made. Dad is being an ass about it."

"Haldir should have ass permanently tattooed on his forehead, Litawen." She said with not even the hint of a blush. "Had Benny not been half-way to in love with him when we first met, I'd have quite easily grown to dislike him. Ignore him too."

"J!" I gasped, having not heard her speak quite so candidly about my Father in all the years I had known her. She had an impish look about her, and I tickled her soles as her feet were still upon my lap until she giggled. "Between you, Tori, and Osellë, I fear I shall never be the proper and polite maiden Dad so hopes."

She sighed, removing her feet. "I'll talk to him. I think he may fear Elrohir's intentions and no amount of promises from him will put that to rest. Now go and tell the poor sod you intend to marry him before he caves under the pressure."

I grinned and hugged her, my hands against her tummy then as I dipped to speak to my little cousin. "Hello there little one – you have the loveliest, most wonderful Mummy in the world. Do her a favour and come soon so you can know all of your amazing family too."

"Litawen, go!" She gave me a push out of the door and I span away, not before taking out the ring he intended for me and slipping it on my hand. I held it up, the metal warming against the skin of my index finger.

"It does rather suit me, does it not?" I marvelled at the delicate silver band, the metal woven almost like leaves in the wind or the waves, and then ran out of her home before she could say anything further. I made my way with no small degree of nervousness to Lord Elrond's home, hoping to clamber up through the trees and into Elrohir's window, but instead I spotted Lady Celebrian tending her garden.

"Oh, bother." I mumbled to myself, pressing my back against a tree so she didn't see me, and then slipped the ring off my hand to put it back in the bag.

"If you put that away, I will be forced to believe you are no longer sure of your love for me." I jumped a mile and stared up into the branches, where I spotted Elrohir's glittering eyes staring down at me. I flushed and shook my head, putting the silver band back in place as he dropped to the floor.

"Not at all, I simply knew not if you had told your family of your intentions. Mother does call me trouble for a reason" I said practically, and watched as his lips turned up.

"You do not jest?" I shook my head and he dropped from his perch to stand before me. "I love you, my Litawen, my fiery heart." I passed his small bag back and he took his own ring from it, examining it in the light of the afternoon, before sliding it in place himself. "One year hence, providing we both survive it, we shall wed." He joked lightly, and I laughed before his lips were against mine. My back was still against the tree as his weight pressed against me, hands becoming entangled in the mass of curls that fell about me in a great halo of gold.

"I love you. One year hence, I shall bind myself to you forever. Is it possible I am mad?" I laughed at his expression – it was if he was weighing out the answers.

"We are probably both mad, but then that makes it all the more enjoyable." He said finally and I nodded before throwing myself at him in a fierce embrace. His hands dropped to my waist as he held me against him in the shade of the tree. "I knew not that this feeling would ever be possible. I... there are no words. Truly, no words to describe the fullness of my heart, my desire, my love."

"I think I perhaps may know, Elrohir." I smiled with closed eyes; the sensation of rough tunic against my cheek quite a comforting one. "So, what are we telling everyone?"

"Yes, what are you telling us?"

I cringed, eyes still closed, but his hands only held me tighter. "Mother, my betrothed. Litawen, I believe you have met my Mother, Lady Celebrian?"

I took a deep breath and stood back to curtsey, my head dipping as I did so. She looked so alarmingly like Lady Galadriel it was a little unnerving, and surprising it made me feel a little more comfortable. Her blue eyes lit with amusement and nothing more as she held out her hands to take my own.

"Quite the merry dance you two have been performing together; most amusing, I grant you. Come – I would know more of the lady who will yet become my daughter."

To her credit, not a tinge of pain or sadness did I hear in her voice, despite knowing that she was Queen Arwen's Mother. "There is not much to tell, I confess." I said with a blush, knowing that I was not perhaps the woman anyone would choose willingly for a daughter-in-law. "I am no great Lady, I am afraid to say."

"Liar." I turned my head to Elrohir, who lounged back against the tree where I had been pressed not moments before.

"You have no tact, do you know that?" I said with a roll of my eyes. "I am not a liar."

"She is, ignore her Mother." He patted my shoulder and took his Mother's arm who watched on, clearly enjoying out interaction. "She speaks two languages fluently, the Common Tongue to a point, and Quenya enough to curse in. She is a musician and a huntress."

"And she is going to kill you in your sleep." I spoke under my breath, in English, earning a wicked grin from him as he at least half-understood my words.

"Only if your Father does not reach me first, love." He advised me and, a little against my own will, I laughed as Celebrian beckoned me to follow.

"Captain Haldir is a fine elf. He ensured the safety of many a passage to Lothlorien – always so polite and courteous whenever we passed."

"Are you speaking of the same elf?" I asked as Elrohir opened the door for us, and she offered a smile as naughty as my own.

"Ah, but of course. Now, you are a musician? Tell me, what do you play?"

"The flute mostly, my Lady. I sing a little too, but I fear not well enough for great halls like my Mum... Mother." I caught myself, correcting my phrasing. Elrohir shared a dark look with Celebrian, who reached out again to take my hand.

"Dear child, you need not stand upon ceremony here. Speak as you will – I confess I find it most curious. I know some troubles have befallen you and your family as you have come to settle here. I find it most disheartening." We were lead to the kitchen – it seemed she, like my Mother, much preferred the comfort of a family kitchen to great lounges and drawing rooms.

"It is nothing, truly. I have quite the backbone now about it all. We are a different family, and whilst once it brought me hurt I have come to appreciate it more. It has brought us together more closely than otherwise it might have, and for that I am very glad."

"I hate it." Elrohir said, coming to stand behind me and holding me about the waist – a surprisingly intimate gesture for such an occasion and setting. "I detest thoroughly how elves belittle you all, especially Benny. It is as if they care not how safe she kept Lothlorien and Mirkwood."

"Of course they do not – to them, that war is a distant memory." Celebrian said heavily. "I have not had much opportunity to speak at length with the Lady Bernadette, but I hope that now I can come to do so."

"I think she would like that." I said softly, leaning back against Elrohir, and Celebrian busied herself a little making some tea to give us some semblance of privacy.

"Are you well, sweet?" Elrohir spoke quietly in my ear and I nodded, feeling him hold me tighter. "You cannot lie to me. What troubles you?"

"It is nothing, truly. Do not fuss, love." I turned my head, meeting his eyes with a slight smile. "I feel remarkably at peace today."

"Good. I would have you know that peace forever more." He lifted my hand, examining the ring I now wore. "It suits you, wild one."

"I thought so too, wilder one. Perhaps a gold band would suit me even better." I mused and he laughed, kissing my cheek before taking a mug of tea offered by Celebrian. She handed me one too and gestured for us to sit at the well-used table.

"Now, son of mine, have you told your Father of your plans to wed?" Elrohir winced. "As I thought. You should have told him – we knew of your courtship, but only I presumed to consider where it would lead."

"He saw me with our rings – he knew perfectly well of my intentions even if he avoided speaking on them. Our courtship was no secret to him." Elrohir appeared sightly aggrieved, and I sought to ease his mood a little.

"I wouldn't call it a courtship, truly." I grinned, sipping my tea. "Only upon my begetting day did we really speak on how we felt." Gods, was that really only a week ago? It felt a lifetime since we had finally declared how we felt in our hearts, an eternity since last I had looked upon him and felt his hand firmly in my own.

"That does not make it any less of a courtship. You have quite smoothly sailed those waters without having to dance with chaperones – well played." Celebrian looked amused again, but then looked up as a knock sounded from the door.

"I think that will be Mum." I said, and Elrohir shook his head.

"How would she know you were here?"

"I saw Aunty J just before I came here. She was going to speak to Father and I think it has been quite long enough now to have had them converse and she ride here."

"No, I rather think it will be my Grandmother, for I know she is due to visit Father."

"Care to make a wager on that?" I countered. "Five gold?" He nodded, shaking my hand, and Celebrian rolled her eyes before going to greet whoever was at the door. A few minutes later she came back, my Mother in tow. "Ha, pay up."

"Your connection is terrifying and almost twinlike." He said with disgust. "I shall owe you it later. Well met, Benny." He stood to embrace my Mother, who was watching the exchange between us with raised brows, before I officially introduced the two ladies.

"Lady Celebrian, meet my mother, Lady Bernadette. Mum, Lady Celebrian."

"Lovely to meet you – but please, it's just Bernadette. Benny if you prefer, but I'll answer to most things."

"Then I insist upon Celebrian. Come – I would speak to you further on the betrothal of our children, if we may trust them to remain out of trouble?"

"One day, maybe. I have called Litawen 'trouble' even in the womb."

Celebrian let out a startled laugh, offering her arm to Mum who took it without question. "Curious, I called both my sons the same, or thereabouts. In private, my words were not quite so polite!"

I let out a long, relieved breath as the two ladies left together, head falling into my arms at the table as I fairly shook with relief. Elrohir assumed the same position as he sat opposite me, a puff of air causing his hair to flutter a little.

"So, what are we telling your Dad?" I asked, my hand reaching out to grasp his as he did the same.

"I adore that:_ Dad_." His eyes creased that at the corner as his face lit with amusement. "I know not. I am rather tempted to abscond completely and leave it to my Mother."

We both looked at each other, and then as one turned to look out of the great open windows where Mum and Lady Celebrian could be seen strolling away from the house. We turned back to each other again, and I knew he was thinking exactly as I was as I saw the mischief shine in those eyes I so adored.

Hastily we scrambled from our chairs which clattered behind us and we raced through the halls, all but falling out of the door before running at full-pelt away from the house – laughing all the way as if we were children once more.

* * *

**I fell in love with them, I swear. They pretty much write themselves nowadays. **

**Reviews sincerely appreciated, as always, and thank you to everyone who is with me so far! **


	6. One Hundred - Part 2

**Hey! **

**Another chapter for you all :) I love this one too! I happened to notice I have two reviewers from Australia and China who always seem to be some of the first to read my chapters (I adore story stats – it appeals massively to my geekery) and I'd just like to thank you both, whoever you are. **

**Now _I _look like a stalker. **

**That said, I sincerely appreciate every single one of my readers, reviewers, and my lurkers too. You all matter so much to me, and knowing you're out there at least semi-interested in these little chapters keeps me writing. I do try to respond to everyone but this can be in fits and starts - I promise I will always respond at least once though!**

**Love, **

**MM -x**

* * *

"Mum is going to kill me." I moaned a little later as we stopped to breathe. Traipsing and tripping though the fields near their home had resulted in races, tumbles, and a feeling of such freedom that I had not known since I left Middle Earth seventy five years ago. Elrohir, the maddening creature, knew it and fed my fire until I had fallen, gasping, with him on top of me.

"Probably, but I am certain you know how to tame her." He began with a breathless grin but then he grabbed me by the waist and pulled me up, staggering backwards into a copse with a hand covering my mouth before I could say any more. His eyes appeared almost panicked, and then as his hand moved away his lips were on mine in a kiss.

"Father." I felt his lips form the word against my own, and I let my eyes flutter shut as his mouth captured my lips and tongue danced with my own. I knew he had passed when Elrohir became more passionate still, hands daring to roam further than they had before until we were both left flushed and wild-eyed from the encounter.

"Where shall we go?" He asked, hands still at my hips.

"I thought perhaps I might shoot a little, if you have no objection?" I asked.

"I could be persuaded. I confess, I have more skill with a sword than a bow so it interests me to see your form and see if I may learn. The Galadhrim and the elves of Mirkwood have always been formidable archers."

"Come then, I shall show you what I know. I doubt that I am any better than you!" I laughed. It was a pleasant walk back and we chose the beach route, my favourite path. More than once I was pulled to him, or he to me, in heated kisses that left us breathless.

Sometimes we simply stood, watching the sun on the waves until I realised that by the time we were home and prepared it would be too dark to consider shooting. Soon the sun would drop behind the mountains which rose not to far away, setting earlier for the threat of the winter months. Whilst never quite so cold as in Gondor, it would still darker earlier and earlier until the spring.

"Let us instead sit here. The most glorious view in all of Valinor." I said as we had come to my own place on the beach – just a stone's throw away from my new home. "Tell me – are you wearing an under-shirt?" I asked curiously then, an idea forming in my mind.

"Well, yes, but... Litawen, what _are_ you doing?" He stopped as I pulled off my tunic, leaving me only in my deep green under-shirt, and I kicked off my boots so that I could roll my breeches up to the knee. Letting go of his hand I ran to the waves, a warm but gusty wind whipping my hair. I could hear his laugh as I leapt upwards to avoid becoming completely soaked by a larger breaking wave.

"You are mad!" He called over the crashing of the tide, and I turned to wink at him.

"And you're marrying me!" I walked backwards a little and beckoned him to follow as he stood in his white under-shirt and dark breeches.

"Litawen, watch out..." He looked suddenly alarmed and I turned just in time to have a larger swell crash up to my waist, soaking me thoroughly and splashing me all the way up my front. He came to stand by me, looking down as I dripped into the water with a shocked expression.

"This is entirely your fault." I advised him, mouth still agog, and then dove at him so that he staggered and fell sideways into the water. "There, now we match." I nodded with satisfaction as he sat up, pushing me off him slowly before lifting me up and flinging me out into the sea as if I weighed little more than a feather.

"I win!" He waved at me, hands trying to wring out his shirt a little as I came up from the water, spluttering, and my hair plastered to me.

"You are all kinds of dead, love!" I stood, wading back to him. My clothes weighed me down considerably, and I smirked outright as I saw the sand covering his back and rear. He grinned and pulled me to him so that I was pressed right up against him, and the chill from the breeze was suddenly gone in an instant.

"The way your shirt clings now is so thoroughly distracting." Elrohir told me and I blushed, trying to look down and make it a little more modest, but his fingers captured my chin and then his lips were on mine again. The waves crashed and broke around our knees as we kissed, my hands combing through his damp hair now slightly dry with the salt water.

"I love you." I told him, hands still in his hair. "I may not say it so often as I should in time to come, but know that I do with all of my heart."

"I know it, Litawen, and fear not. I have enough words for both of us." One hand cupped my face, the other at my waist, and this time our kiss was not heated and full of passion, but instead a gentle searching and held the taste of a promise made forever. "I cannot believe you agreed to marry me."

"And I cannot believe that you asked me, so we will both have to sit in disbelief together at our good fortune. Alternatively, we can simply get on with the whole business of being happy and not fuss about it." I offered frankly, my hands still in his hair.

"You are rather brilliant." Elrohir breathed and then was kissing me again, and I lost myself to him completely as the waves crashed against our legs and the sun set far behind us.

**xxxXxxx**

"Dad?" I steeled myself for the confrontation, knowing that it had to come sooner or later. For two days I had inadvertently avoided him in my own little home as I decorated, but he had not sought me out until now. I had heard his footsteps on the sand – he always knew where I would go when I needed my space and a little solace. He hugged me from behind and pressed a kiss to my crown, letting me know at least in part that he wasn't unbearably angry with me.

"Why was I the last to know, little one? Once there was a time when you would tell me everything." He sounded so unfathomably hurt and I turned to him.

"It was not intentional, I promise. Ah, perhaps when first I thought he might return my feelings I kept it to myself – that was mostly because I did not want you to scare him away!" I chastised him a little before my features softened. "I had been in town with him the night before, and I experienced a little of the usual." I began, gesturing to myself. "Clearly, all this wonderful was just too much for them." I joked, and finally his stony expression dropped in favour of a small smile.

"I hope he was honourable, daughter."

"He was, Dad, and always he has been. Oh, but if only you had seen it. He spoke not directly to them but said the atmosphere had become foul for their whispers and veritably stormed out with me, head held high." I paused, staring out towards the sea as the morning light glinted on the waves. They rolled and crashed high, the autumn weather finally setting in and stirring the sea violently "I think I fell completely in love with him that night, if I was not truly before."

I carefully unclasped the locket he had given me, and drew out the creased note that had been attached to the roses he had left me the following day which I kept so close to my heart. "And then, the next day, after I had been to see little Grandfather, I found that he left me this with three beautiful roses."

"I knew that you were seeing him more often, but I truly did not expect that love would come to you so suddenly." His voice was a little distant as his eyes scanned the paper.

"Again, I say to you – it is rather an obvious connection if you care to think on it at all." I pointed out, and I heard his dark chuckle.

"I know, that is why I feel quite the fool about the whole matter. I fear I still see you as the terror roaming free about Gondor, and not the grown lady you have become. Even now when you have a home of your own."

"And even when I best you when we hunt?" I dared to tease, testing his mood, and he put an arm around my shoulder with a squeeze, passing me back the note so that I could lock it away once more.

"Perhaps not then, daughter-mine." He said softly, and I leaned against him as the sun rose fully above the waves. "I fear I am losing you." Dad admitted, and I turned to him with raised brows.

"Now, that is _quite _ridiculous. Why on earth would you be losing me?"

"Did I say that it was a rational fear, Litawen?" The arm not around my shoulders grasped my left hand, inspecting my betrothal ring. "It suits you, at the very least." He admitted begrudgingly. "When your Mother told me he had asked for your hand, I truly did not believe he would do it, so of course I said yes to her. I knew not just how serious it had become between you."

"Satisfied he isn't out to break my heart now, Daddy?" I wrapped my arms around his waist, looking up at him with a smirk which he shared at the silly yet affectionate name I held for him still.

"Only on the day you wed will I be satisfied, and not until then." He muttered darkly and I grinned.

"Ah, you have a year to get used to the idea."

"I saw you on the beach a few evenings past. I had not the heart to speak to you both then, for you looked so happy." Dad admitted finally, still with his arms around me.

"We are, of that I sincerely promise. Truly, I finally feel at home here, and I would not change a thing. He is wonderful, and despite your questionable differences we are happier than you could possibly imagine. We simply...fit."

"I think I am beginning to see it, my darling. There are not many people who are fortunate to share your sanctuaries."

"My tree is still ours, I promise." I stood back, taking his hands. "I still remember that very first day when I found my tree, and the scolding you gave me for clambering into it!"

His eyes creased at the corner as he laughed, recalling the memory. "Aye, I did. And then again when you escaped my clutches. _Mine_! My Mother must have thought me a rather poor excuse for a Father not to be able to manage my own offspring."

"Yes, well, I was tame compared to the twins in the end. We were not the easiest of children, I think."

"Yet you are ours, and such a wonderful role I would never trade – all the mischief included. Speaking of mischief, your brothers are on the rampage. I would not usually seek to warn Elrohir of any misfortune coming his way, but as he is for the moment separated from his own twin I feel he should have at least some semblance of a head-start against them." Dad said lightly, and I felt my nose wrinkle in distaste.

"Or you could tell him." I offered. "I mean, I think he'll be..."

"Haldir!" I heard a call as I was speaking and I turned, seeing Mum waving with a devious grin. "You have a visitor."

"What is this, trouble?" He asked me and I smiled guiltily.

"... Here right about now. Please be kind to him? I assume by now Lord Elrond knows, so you may yet speak to him too."

"You did not tell him?" Father looked exasperated and I flushed a little.

"We told the Lady Celebrian and he spotted Elrohir with our rings himself – that counts, does it not?" I asked hopefully, only for him to roll his eyes and turn to go after Mother, who waited still in the trees. "Lord Elrond bothers me." I admitted. "I suspect that thousands of years shall pass and he shall _still_ bother me, like how Mum is with Lady Galadriel."

"I suppose. Now, do try to keep yourself out of trouble, Litawen."

"Impossible." I teased, and then turned to fling myself him in a hug from behind. Like when I was growing he carried me easily to Mum where at last he dropped me to my feet, and I could feel the happiness emanating from him in waves as I kissed his cheek. "I love you." I told him sincerely before he turned sharply to hide that I had flustered him – he was never one for such great shows of affection as my Mother was.

As far as Fathers went, I had the very best.

"Be nice, sweet. It's only Elrohir, and you have known him forever." Mum warned to his retreating back and he waved a hand to her in response as he disappeared into the trees. I couldn't stop smiling as Mum rested an arm at my hip and I leaned into her as the sun climbed higher into the sky still.

"Sorry for running away."

"God, don't. I'd have done the same." She laughed, her eyes green and grey and full of delight. "We've been invited for dinner with Lady Celebrian and Lord Elrond to talk all things wedding tonight. Don't look at me in that tone of voice! You know Lady Celebrian well enough and Lord Elrond has relaxed quite considerably since he was reunited with his wife."

"Well, his children had to get their wilder sides from someone." I reasoned and Mum nodded, tugging me up my stairs to the little flet I was now calling home.

"Oh, I like the colours!" she looked around the small living room and kitchen I had – knowing that I regularly forgot to eat and more often than not would be at their home for dinner anyway, a large kitchen was not really needed.

"I know – I tried to mimic the sea." I confessed – the furnishings and curtains all in shades of blue and green which flowed and tumbled together. "Tea?"

"Always." Mum answered quickly, sitting down and then sprawling over the little loveseat I had purchased. "So, I think J will go into labour soon. Probably the next day or two."

"How do you know?" I asked curiously as I waited for the kettle to boil on the hot stone ring, the small wood-burning stove carefully encased in thick stone so the heat did not reach the wood of the talan.

"I can tell from the way she walks. It's more hesitant and clearly more uncomfortable so the baby has dropped, and she keeps touching her bump more as if she's feeling cramps. She doesn't go very far from home now."

"Well, it is all but three weeks until she is due anyway. Would you like me to check on her and see if all is well?" I passed her a mug of tea and she sipped it with a look of pleasure on her face.

"Would you? I need to go and rescue your betrothed and your Father from each other before one of them ends up naked and tied to a tree. I hope it's Elrohir if that's the case – turnabout is fair play, after all." Mum mused, and I smirked.

"If it is the case, do tell me so I can find a way to see it."

"Lita!" She flushed and I laughed outright, sipping my own brew. "Anyway. Yes. Check on J for me, and make sure she isn't too worked up. If her labour is anything like mine then it will be a good fifteen, twenty hours."

"Oh, good Valar." I grimaced. "How do you think Dad and Elrohir are?"

"They'll be fine, Litawen. They know each other and do actually like each other, it is just unfortunate that your Dad is... well, who he is, and Elrohir is far lighter of spirit."

"Dad's an ass." I said succinctly and she snorted into her tea before nodding, draining the cup.

"That he is, but it is part of his charm. You did a good thing today, showing him that you still love him and want him around. You're his daughter, his first-born, and you two are rather alike sometimes – he was feeling a little abandoned by his hunting partner. Sure you've got my mind and my love of music, but the twins are more like I am in spirit."

"In one's face, all the time?" I joked, and caught the cup from the air as she threw it at me. "I know it, truly I do, and I love him. He is going to have to learn to share me just a little, that is all."

"He'll get there, trouble." She leaned over where I still sat and kissed my forehead before going for the door. "Now, go see if your Aunty J has popped yet."

"Aye, I shall. Go!" I stood then, giving her a push as she pulled her midnight locks back in a thick braid. "Battle-stations? Really?"

"Can't be too careful. Dinner, tonight, be ready by seven so we can ride up the coast."

I saluted again as I had seen Men do in Gondor and she laughed as she left the room, the whirlwind that was my Mum leaving me so that I could have a few moments of peace before interrogating my poor Aunt.

**xxxXxxx**

"Aunty J, what are you _doing?_" I entered her talan to see her on her hands and knees, scrubbing the floor with a brush and a pail of water by her side.

"Cleaning the floor – my waters broke." She clarified, and I gaped.

"You are in labour, and you are cleaning the floor. Are you completely deranged?" I snapped, crouching down to take the brush from her fingers.

"No – the position also helps my back when the contractions hit a little bit." She explained, completely calm as if it were all perfectly reasonable. She was absolutely and completely mad.

"Which are how long apart, and for how long?" I sighed, taking to cleaning the floor for her whilst she talked which seemed to improve her mood a little.

"About a minute long, but still a good ten minutes apart yet. I've not hit hard labour yet, Litawen." She assured me. "Ooooh, but sodding hell are they good 'un's when they come." She winced, hands at her back as she leaned over a little. I knew right away the pain must have been intense for she fell into English, her own tongue, rather than the Sindarin she had adopted.

"You are ridiculous. Change into a lighter dress than that and I shall find that roving Uncle of mine as well as tell Mum to come over. Where last did he go?"

"He was walking to see Elrond, last I knew."

"Joyous! Half way up the coast!" I tied my hair up high using a leather thong usually wrapped around my wrist; battle-stations of my own, as Mum did. "What did I say? Change your dress, then sit. Walk _gently_ if you feel it helps, but no more scrubbing the floors, do you hear?"

She looked a little pale as she stood, grimacing, and I held her arms for support. "I understand. Find Glorfindel, Lita; please find him."

"Done." I kissed her brow and then all but flung myself over the railing to the forest floor, running as fast as my feet could carry me to my Mum and Dad's. Only Elrohir's horse stood by the foot of the tree and so I took the initiative to use her.

I mounted the mare easily, greeting her with warm words and a promise that I would care for her before shouting through the trees. "Mother, Aunty J is in labour! She says the contractions are around sixty seconds long every ten minutes, but I'd wager more like ninety seconds around the ten minute mark. Love, I'm taking your horse to find Glorfindel. Farewell!"

I heard their feet as I rode hard along the path, speeding by those who walked. "My apologies – an emergency!" I called behind me to those who fussed, but I was focussed on my task of riding around the town and then out again further up the coast. The ride took most of an hour and I was becoming more and more panicked as time passed.

We skittered to a halt outside the home of Lord Elrond and Lady Celebrian, the very lady looking up from her garden as she heard our approach.

"Litawen, what on earth has you in such a fuss."

"Is my Uncle... Lord Glorfindel within?" I corrected myself part way through so she would know to whom I was referring.

"Yes, he is with my husband. Oh Valar, is it Jade?" I nodded, and she beckoned me to follow her on light feet, picking up her dress so that it didn't catch on the path or plants about us as we walked around the great house.

I saw them come into view – Elrond in the great robes he wore still habitually and Glorfindel in the golden tunic and dark breeches he preferred. Panic overwhelming me again, I ran ahead through the maze of paths and coming before the pool where they both stood.

"You are an unmitigated fool – who leaves their wife in the last month of her pregnancy? Who but you at any rate. Instead, what do I find her doing? Scrubbing the floor as her waters had broken, and now she is in labour." I snapped, having no time for games of propriety now.

"What?" His face blanched, and I saw Elrond give him a pitying glance.

"... Why are you still here? Go! I came on Elrohir's horse so use her to return. She has yet enough strength to have you home swiftly."

"Gods – Elrond, please excuse me. Litawen..." He grasped my hands and then kissed my forehead. "Thank you. Oh, and congratulations." He saw my ring and then he was running out of the gardens the way I had come in, just as Lady Celebrian reached us.

"Well, you do know how to make an entrance." Lord Elrond said finally as I stood, hands on hips and with a slight pant for the stress and the fear in my heart that Glorfindel would be too late.

"I sincerely apologise for interrupting your afternoon." I said with regret, looking at the floor as I felt awkwardness swathe me again. "I will return home presently, and I think you for your patience with my lack of manners. The situation warranted it, I fear." My hair had dropped down a little so I took out the band and shook it free, before reaching back to tie it up again more neatly. Celebrian placed her hand on my arm, stilling my movements as I began to bow my head in farewell.

"Stay, Litawen. I assume that our dinner tonight shall now be postponed, so now is as good a time as any for us to truly talk."

"But my Aunt..."

"Will be fine. Childbirth is one of the singularly most natural processes of the elven body. With Bernadette and Glorfindel on hand she will have the most excellent care that could possibly be afforded to her." Lord Elrond said, oddly reassuring and I felt some of my nervousness ebb.

"Come, let us have some tea. Have you eaten today?"

I frowned at the question. I'd not eaten today – had I even eaten yesterday in my need to decorate my flet? "No, nor yesterday I fear. I go easily without food – I think perhaps I can live quite comfortably on tea alone!" I joked.

"Two days without eating – I truly thought my son spoke in jest. Apparently, he did not." The tall elf beside me frowned, and Lady Celebrian pulled me forward with gently coaxing movements.

"Is there anything in particular you prefer?"

"I am remarkably easy to please when it comes to food, my Lady. There is little I will not eat."

"When you remember to do so." Elrond said from my other side, and I cracked a guilty smile.

"Perhaps. I hunt regularly and once my kills are sold I then have other things to occupy my time. When I eat it is an evening meal, which is more than enough to sustain me." I explained as the two walked with me.

"That does seem to be a particular occupation found by elves once of Mirkwood or Lothlorien – yet not many ladies hunt so here in Aman." Elrond said with a slight frown.

"My Aunty To... Victoria does also. A number of women there are in our hunting party, but you are correct when you say that most of them are previously from Lorien in particular." I corrected myself quickly, but earned a scowl from Celebrian.

"I told you only a few days ago not to correct yourself so." She said to me, and I winced. "Equally, I told _you_ of the struggles the Lady you rescued faced, yet you did not believe me."

Elrond's frown was still in place and he remained silent as we entered into the kitchen I'd been in before. "I would ask you respond honestly, though of course if I pry you may certainly choose not to respond. What troubles truly do your family face?"

I sighed as I gestured for them both to sit. Elrohir had his Father's dark hair, but his features truly favoured his Mother. "It is not too different to the slight estrangement you will see already between Silvan elves and almost all of the rest of Aman – truly, you will also see the Mirkwood and Lothlorien elves to be far more accepting as they were when still we resided in Middle Earth." I began, stalking before them. "Ai, the words do not come easily to me, and I am sorry for it."

"Perhaps I could explain a little better?"

I looked up and saw Elrohir leaning against the door-frame, a small smile on his face. "How did you get here so quickly?"

"Stole another horse. By stole, I mean borrowed, and it was Glorfindel's horse." He teased. "Why you did not simply take his I shall never know. That aside, I was only perhaps ten minutes behind you." He frowned then, looking me over. "Have you eaten today?"

"No, nor yesterday. Yes, I know I need to eat more. No, I will not promise it won't happen again, because it will. Yes, you can take me out to dinner tonight to stop me harassing Aunty J." I rolled my eyes to the ceiling and then realised the company I was in as I hung my head. "Kill me now." I muttered in English, only for Elrond to laugh.

"That trick shall not work with me; I know that tongue in which Bernadette speaks. I was not aware it had been taught to others, however."

"You shall find a group of us who speak it fluently, mostly united by blood or marriage, or like your son know a smattering of the words here and there. I doubt it shall be long before he knows it entirely as well as any might." I felt a flush and then Elrohir reached out to me, his hand grasping my own to lead me to sit down next to him. As soon as I was sat his hands were at my hair, pulling it free from its bindings.

"Why does this feel like an inquisition, and rather suddenly?" I laughed, trying to ease the tension I felt, and with great pleasure both Elrond and Celebrian did so too – stiff postures relaxing enough for me to feel more at ease.

"Indeed. So, this is my experience so far of the troubles my love and her family face." Elrohir began, our hands clasped firmly together, and I saw then the elf that had managed Imladris just as I saw my charming rogue.

The discussions went on long into the afternoon and then evening, food brought to us by one of Celebrian's maids. Later, once they had both retired to one of the lounges, I gazed out of the window into the sheet of rain that fell with a heavy sigh.

"I should return Glorfindel's horse to him, before the night grows too late." I grimaced. "Might I borrow a cloak, love?"

"No, you cannot. You are not riding home in autumn rains – you shall be soaked thoroughly and chilled to the bone if I know you at all." Elrohir said critically.

"There will be a storm – do you feel it?" I said by way of an answer, feeling the prickle at the back of my neck and on my arms too. "The land shall be greener and happier for it, the air much clearer too."

"Stop avoiding the question." Elrohir rolled his eyes, taking my chin and forcing me to look up at him. "You shall stay tonight. Come – I will show you the library. It is well stocked with texts I know full well you will enjoy." He coaxed me, pulling me away from the kitchen window and deeper into the house.

"This is bribery." I advised him fondly, and he looked pleased.

"Yes, and bribery works. Now, would you prefer literature or history?" He opened the door to the library and I couldn't stop the smile that bloomed as I saw the golden glow rise from the few scattered candles.

"Literature today, I think. Something to escape into." I wandered the room then, my fingers gliding over smooth leather or heavy cloth until a book of poems came to me. "I adore poetry – the rhythms, the song-like quality, the poet leaving themselves vulnerable completely."

"That is a singularly unique book." Elrohir came to stand over my shoulder as I opened it, and then laughed with a little delight.

"This is my Mother's hand."

"That it is. When you were in Rivendell, Benny suffered with nightmares and would oft stay awake night after night. She found a blank book and began to write poems, songs – all from her own time, whatever she could recall. I never knew enough of the language to read them."

"Many of these I know." I mused, reading the letters that must have seemed so foreign to Elrohir. "Come, let us sit and I shall try not to butcher them too thoroughly." I turned in his arms, only for his lips to capture mine in a sound kiss.

"I am certain you will not." He pulled the book from my hands and led me to the great sprawling settee where he laid comfortably, gesturing for me to lie beside him.

"It is not proper." I pointed out, still stood.

"Neither is being soaked to the bone to the point that clothing almost becomes irrelevant, but still you survive." Elrohir rolled his eyes and then pulled me forward with a solid tug so that I became sprawled over him. "Valar, now this is elegant. Get your elbow out of my ribs, you ridiculously bony creature, and find a comfortable spot."

After a moment of wriggling we found that legs wound together, Elrohir on his back and me curled upon my side was the most comfortable. He opened the book at a random page and I reached out to touch the words, my heart warm as I recognised the poem.

"_Let me not to the marriage of true minds, admit impediments. Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds, or bends with the remover to remove; oh no! It is an ever-fixed mark that looks upon tempests, and is never shaken.." _

I translated then carefully, trying to preserve the beauty of the words as best I could. "I must learn this tongue more thoroughly, for I fear that whilst lovely in our own language the original would be much better." Elrohir said thoughtfully, but I already felt my eyes beginning to droop – the crackle of a small fire, the spitting and popping of candles, and the patter of easing rain lulling me into a rest. Elrohir's arms went around me, the book long forgotten as it was tugged from my fingers, and I fell asleep completely content within his arms.

It was only a knock on the door the following morning that woke me at last, a cup of tea placed on the table next to me as I stirred. I gently shook Elrohir whose eyes cleared from sleep far quicker than my own, and helped me to sit with as much grace as we could muster. Lord Elrond's eyes were ever so slightly softer, a humour that I could see in the curve of his mouth instead of the sombre expression I was so used to seeing.

"Thank you for the tea, and for letting me stay. Your son rather held me hostage yesterday evening and would not permit me to return home." I fought the flush that threatened and Elrohir laughed, pressing a kiss to my knuckles as his hand grasped my own.

"And quite right that he did, too, so do not think on it – you are always welcome here. Now, as to why I disturbed your rest. Bernadette has come to announce the birth of your Aunt's daughter, and Amdiriel they have named her. She waits in the kitchen, if you would care for some breakfast?" He stood from his crouched position, gesturing for us to follow him out.

I felt the giddy smile spread unbidden and I pressed my free hand over my heart as my eyes closed. My brothers had been the last children our growing family had been graced with, and before that Tatharien and I – I couldn't wait to hold her in my arms and help to guide her steps, as all of her family would

"Of course Father. We will be but a moment, and thank you." Elrohir spoke for us both, my happiness keeping me mute but for a slight laugh of joy.

"Amdiriel." I played with the name on my lips – it was truly perfect for my darling little cousin who I already loved with all of my heart though I hadn't yet met her. "_Daughter of Hope_. I shall make sure that in all the days to come she lives only in glorious happiness, and never knows the torment I suffered. This I swear."

The words were far more fierce than I intended, but I meant them with all of my heart and soul. Elrohir gripped my hand harder as his hand cupped my cheek. "Then today we start. We go with no fear in our hearts and we show every single elf who dares cross us that we are united, that in love we stand together always. They have no sway on us."

"Together." I answered firmly, turning my head a little to kiss the palm of his hand as I covered his fingers with my own. "Together, we shall turn Aman upon its head. For Amdiriel."

"For Amdiriel... and for _us_."

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**Reviews, as always, sincerely appreciated. I love hearing what you think!**


	7. Litawen at One Hundred and One

**Hello my beauties! **

**I have a bit of an epic one for you today, but I adore this chapter. In fact, I adore them all! It took me a bit of time to get this just right, but I hope you love it as much as I do. **

**Let me know what you think, and see you all soon! **

**MM -x**

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The night before my wedding, I wandered out on to the cliffs and sat with my feet dangling free over the ridge of rock with a candle in my hands. The waves climbed the beach further and further with each passing minute, the moon high in the sky, and I desperately needed some of their peace. Tomorrow our feast was going to be a great one – the fuss Elrohir and I had stirred together to protect my darling cousin had done a little of what we hoped, but the backlash had been that we were thrown right into the eye of the storm.

It had made life so much more wonderful for my family, but the cost had been the long hours travelling. The talks, the debates, the telling of tales that many seemed intent upon forgetting. They did not want to hear of Sauron and the One Ring, of the world they had left behind for Men to be caretakers of.

Elrohir began it – first with elves he knew personally, then more and more that he didn't. He spoke of our union, of Glorfindel and J, of the wonders of the life my Mother had lived as well as the bad. Mum was being asked questions more and more – at first shyly from some friends of friends, and then more boldly from those who were shocked that not only had Sauron infiltrated her mind but that she had survived it.

Even Uncle Glorfindel, the expert recluse he had become, had weighed in with his own view on the whole matter. I knew just as my Mum and Aunts did that whilst he recalled his previous life in clarity his latest life, the one he lived now, was the person he wanted to be. Hearing what it was like to fight such evil one-on-one only to pass from life and then return to it again, directly from one of the Lords of old, had others too daring to recount their experiences of life, death, and rebirth where before it seemed to have been held so quietly.

What we fought for was that those elves grown within Middle Earth were of no lesser value than any other. Their wisdom was not from personal knowledge of the Valar, but from seeing the world grow and change; their power and strength in their resilience, and their temperaments more open to seeing past outward differences to the soul within. True we were perhaps a little less reserved, a little more wild, but our joy and wonder at all the Valar created for us was no less fierce.

One by one, elf by elf, we truly had begun to change hearts and minds. However, all those elves now clamoured to come to our wedding feast.

"Lita?" I heard a soft voice and I turned my head to see J with my darling Amdiriel in her arms, interrupting my musings on the past year. "What are you doing out here? You should be getting every kind of drunk with Tath shouldn't you?" She teased and I grinned guiltily.

"I may have had one or two, but truly I am not of a mood to drink. Tath tried to drug me to sleep with the last one but I knew she would be doing so – I switched our glasses. She should know better, and Mum had already gone by that time to warn her I was wise to such tricks." I clucked my tongue. Tatharien was training to be a healer as her Mother was, but so soon into her training she had not yet picked up the nuances I had simply from observing my Mum as she worked.

"Why don't you ever heal, Litawen? I mean, you could. You know how."

"I prefer to hunt. I know too my way around a healer's flet, it is true, but I think the thrill of the hunt day to day suits me more." I explained. "Plus, my marriage does not need to be one of two healers. Elrohir already spends much of his days reminding me to eat, now that he finds himself no longer in the business of hunting orcs. At least I give him some way to occupy himself!"

"Hold her for a moment, will you?" J passed my cousin to me, her arms flailing a little as she came to sit on my knee.

"Hello, noisy one." I greeted her – she had wide blue eyes, so like my Uncle's it was arresting. The tone of my voice seemed to amuse her for she became silent, simply staring at me unblinkingly. "What? Hmm?" I habitually began to speak in English – Mum had advised me it was the way infants acquired language and so to simply be immersed in both was the best way to learn.

"Bah! That hurts, child." She reached out and began to pull at my hair, and I winced only a little before I pulled it away from her tiny fingers. "You are a terror, my little one." I told her frankly and turned her around so she could look out over the crashing waves instead as J sat next to me.

"You're good with her." J fell into her mother tongue with me as I held Amdiriel securely at my chest, my free hand running through her hair that was a strange mix of silver and gold.

"So long as I can give her back." I said with a grin.

"So children aren't on the horizon, then?"

"Gods, no! Can you imagine Elrohir a Father just yet? He is less wild, it is true, but I do not think either of us is in any way ready to be gifted with children just yet." I said with certainty.

"Neither are Tori and Legolas, you aren't alone." She said with a laugh. "So, why are you out here on the night before your wedding?"

"I just wanted to see the waves. I feel... I simply desired to have a moment with this place which has raised me as much as my parents have. Thinking upon all that has passed this last year." I explained, trying to hide the nervous edge in my tone, and J nodded though her eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

"You've done a lot of wonderful things, Litawen. Not just for Ami, but for all of us. I know I speak for your Grandparents, your Mum, and for Tori too when I say thank you. We would take curiosity over dark glances any day of the week." She indicated to the child in my arms.

I shrugged but felt the bubble of happiness I always did when I thought on the acceptance my family, and too many Silvan elves, were truly beginning to find. The child upon my lap wriggled a little, her legs bouncing against my own between the simple white dress she wore. "Fidget." I told her with a laugh, and passed her back to my Aunt with a roll of my eyes as her little legs kicked, trying to stand.

"She is, at that. She always seems to calm out here a little though. You were like that when you were younger." She reminisced. "Still are, clearly."

"I am indeed." I leaned against her shoulder, my elegant and serene Aunty so different from her sisters. "As of tomorrow, Dad can finally desist with his glowering."

"Today, technically." J pointed out. "You really should get some sleep, sweetheart."

"Who, me or your talkative little monster?" I tickled the child's bare feet, delighting in her joyful giggles as I did so.

"Both." She frowned at her daughter. "Come on, girly, please sleep so that you don't cry all through the wedding."

"I do not feel at all tired. Would you like me to watch her tonight so that you get some rest?" I offered sincerely and J rolled her eyes at me as she stood carefully, child still in her arms.

"Don't be so bloody ridiculous." She hissed.

"Careful – you don't want to teach her words that you would rather her not speak. Speak with your dear twin on the repercussions of doing so." I stood too and held out my arms to take Amdiriel. "I speak honestly – I would be delighted to look after her."

"Litawen, you get married later. You are _not_ babysitting for me tonight."

"Perhaps I am nervous, and it will keep my mind off things." I begrudgingly admitted, and her eyes lit with humour as I finally told her the truth. "I cannot lie to either you or to Glorfindel, you know that do you not?"

"Yep. Now you've told me the truth, you can take care of her." She pressed a kiss to my head and passed Amdiriel to me as she did so. "She should sleep soon, she's clean and fed. That said, I've got a bag for you and her basket just over there if you need it."

"I cannot believe she is eating more solid food already." I marvelled, and then frowned. "How did you know..?"

"I always know." She winked at me, producing a basket from the tree line as I followed her, Amdiriel still in my arms with her little fists in my hair once more. "Here. Thank you, Litawen – may she keep you entertained whilst I actually spend some time with my husband alone. You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to _sleep_. All night."

She looked like she was positively ready to drool and I laughed as she left, looping the woven basket she slept in over my arm, examining the contents. Small jars of food, clean cloth should she require changing, and other amenities that came with caring for an infant. "Well then, my darling, it is just us tonight."

The beautiful yet exuberant bundle leaned against me with a giggle and began to spring my curls, fascinated by how they straightened then bounced back. "Yes, Elrohir likes playing the same game too." I told her with a roll of my eyes.

We walked together back through the woods, her quiet babbling and my own responses cheering me and calming me more thoroughly. "Was it cruel for me to drug poor Tatharien, hmm? Am I a horrible, mean old cousin?"

I loved my little home, nearer to the coast than I'd lived with my parents until the spring just gone. I needed my own space, at least for a while, and neither I nor Elrohir held any reservations in living at the little circular flet until we actually decided where we wished to reside in years to come.

"AH!" Amdiriel giggled her agreement as I carefully climbed the stairs and entered my home the way I had come – Tatharien curled up on my settee fast asleep.

"You appear to have developed an extra appendage." I heard a voice call to me and I jumped a mile, my jolt startling the babe in my arms.

"Elrohir, what on earth are you doing here?" I pressed a hand to my chest, the child frowning as she twisted her neck to see Elrohir for herself who was clambering through the window with remarkable grace.

"I came to see if you had managed to get to bed without thoroughly making a mess of things – I know how you are when you drink to excess. Instead, I find you have adopted that little demon."

"For that, you get to hold her whilst I change for bed." I placed her in his arms and he gave a slightly startled look as he held the child.

"This is the first time I have held a babe since Arwen was born." He said, a slight tremor in his voice as he held her so carefully in his arms. "Estel was already well into his childhood when first I met him." I paused in my steps and turned back, coming to stand beside him with my nightdress still in my arms.

"She is so beautiful, is she not?"

"With so fair parents, she had very little choice in the matter I fear. Still, the question remains – why have you your cousin the night before we wed?"

I blushed a little, looking down at the infant girl in his arms who seemed so mesmerised by the sound of his voice as she had with mine. "Sleep does not come easily to me." I admitted.

"Wedding jitters?" Elrohir teased and I rolled my eyes, trying not to let his words get to me as I went to change in my bathing room. Whilst a bath there was, communal facilities suited me far more so it was mostly used for changing and washing quickly. I heard her sharp cries suddenly just as I started to braid my hair once I'd changed, and I saw Elrohir flounder with the babe in his arms.

"Hey now." I said with as much of a commanding voice as I could muster, and Ami stopped her wriggling at once to stare. "What do you want, little miss?"

Her little arms waved out at me and I took her from Elrohir's arms – noting his slight sigh of relief as I did so. "She likes to be high up, like this." I explained, turning her so she faced outwards and was sat on one of my arms with the other around her so she could see everything. Her neck was strong now as she twisted, gazed and flailed around.

"You have a way with her." He said curiously as I walked her around the room, nightdress fluttering around my ankles.

"She is as I was as a child, I think. Noisy, rambunctious, and..." I turned her a little and nodded once, self-satisfied. "... Will fall asleep quite suddenly, and in the most unusual of places."

"Truly? She just wanted to be held in a certain way?" He looked slightly befuddled as I gestured for him to empty out her basket and then I placed her carefully inside, her little head resting against the soft interior as I covered her with the thin blanket.

"Babies are funny creatures, love." I told him, placing the basket on the blanket box at the end of my bed so I could see her at all times. "She will likely sleep the night through now she is settled."

"Fortunate indeed." He took me in his arms then and placed a kiss to my lips, hands holding me as delicately as they had the child who now slept right beside us.

"Why do you not rest?" I asked him after a moment, slightly breathless.

"I feel a little strange, I confess. It is not you, Litawen, but rather the absence of one who I have otherwise been tied to my entire life."

"Elladan." I reached up and let my hand linger on his cheek. "We do not have to do this if you are not ready. I would wait an eternity for you." The words killed me to say – I loved him so completely that our marriage was the shining star on my horizon but I would stand by him, no matter what he needed.

"No, Lita." He smiled beneath my fingers, his head tilting forward a little to lean into the touch. "I want this, more than anything I have ever wanted anything before. It is just that today, I shall miss him. I love you Litawen. Later today I shall marry you knowing all the more that nothing would make me happier in all the world."

"We shall make wonderful memories and ensure we have all sorts of tales to tell, as I am sure he will too." I promised him with a passion that seemed to surprise him. His lips pressed to mine again, tongue sweeping and searching for a moment.

"I know that he will. Tonight I think I shall stay with you, unless you otherwise object." Elrohir said suddenly, and I shrugged.

"Tath is unconscious in the front room, so I cannot see a problem."

"Did she try to drug you?" He asked as I sprawled out on the bed, ankles crossed.

"Tried is of course the operative word, as I am still conscious. One should know better than to try and drug the daughter of a healer." I leaned onto his chest as he came to lie beside me, his arms automatically going around me as I kept a careful eye on Amdiriel still in her basket.

"You will make a wonderful parent one day, love." He said as he ran his fingers through the wild hair I had not managed to braid in the end.

"One day." I confirmed with a happy smile. "Not just yet, but one day I think even you shall manage to perform admirably as a Father."

"The cheek, woman." He said lightly, but I heard the tiredness in his voice. I let my eyes close then, certain Amdiriel was content, and then fell into the sleep that had evaded me with the arms of the one I loved around me.

**xxxXxxx**

It was Ami's quiet chattering in the morning that stirred me at last, only to find the space beside me empty of Elrohir's warmth. In its place was a rose just like the first ones he had given me, and I felt a few stray tears escape as I read the small note attached.

_One year ago I told you I loved you, and today I tell the world. _

_I am sorry that I have had to leave so suddenly, but you looked so peaceful in your rest that I had not the heart to disturb you. _

_I also need to make myself appear at least halfway suitable for you, but I fear I shall never compare for when next I see your face, it will be when you are named my wife. That shall make you more beautiful than any other in the world. _

_Yours, until the very end,_

_-E_

_Ps. Amdiriel has been changed – I caught her just before she was about to scream bloody murder. It is the first time I have changed a babe since Arwen, too. You are welcome, and I rather think you owe me. _

"I picked a good one, didn't I my darling cousin?" I crawled to the end of the bed and lifted her from her basket just as a bleary-eyed Tatharien stumbled into my room.

"You are a witch from the... By the Valar, why do you have Ami?" She asked, using the shortened name for my darling cousin.

"I offered so that Aunty J might have at least a little respite, and I love my little demon, do I not?" I spoke to the happily babbling child who reached out to try and wiggle across the bed.

"Ai, you are mad. We should go to Bernadette's so you can prepare with her. Yes, you can take the child with you." She rolled her eyes as I frowned, holding the playful bundle of child protectively.

"Ignore nasty Tatharien, my darling Amdiriel. She has no taste in companions. Shall we take you to your Aunty Bernadette, hmm?" I helped her to sit upright and then fumbled around in my wardrobe for a light dress I could change out of later, when I at last prepared for our binding feast.

"Yes, ignore me, but do so whilst you follow me to your Mother's." she advised me as I performed a trick my Mother had taught me long ago – using a tube of material to tuck my hair into the shape of a bun at the back of my head. "Here." Tath passed me a leather cord which I used to fix it in place, and then shook the curls free around my face that would not stay back.

"Are you happy now?" I held my arms out, gesturing to show I was dressed and ready before lifting Ami into my arms.

"You will do, now come!"

My morning and afternoon was filled with visitors, love, and joyful laughter and as the afternoon began to wear on I felt nerves begin to eat at my heart. They had been subtle and slow to grow but now they flurried within me as Mum combed my damp hair carefully – the only time it was ever safe to brush my curls into any sort of submission. A light flowery oil she was running though the strands, fingers weaving and playing with my hair.

Tatharien and my family had left us for a short time to prepare themselves, and so it was just the two of us together in the silence only a mother and daughter could bear, until she broke it with a laugh.

"I remember my wedding day. Osellë did successfully drug me and I slept until gone noon, and I was this mass of nerves and excitement and fear." She reminisced, and I caught her eyes in the mirror.

"I am more nervous than I thought I would be. What if he..."

"Stop right there, trouble." She dropped the comb and crouched at my side, her hands on my knees. "All of those 'what if' questions? Not going to happen. His heart will stop when he sees you, I promise, and I am willing to guarantee that when he does begin to gather his thoughts the first thing he will think will be '_why on earth has such a wonderful woman chosen to marry me?_'. He adores you, and will quite clearly tear all of the world apart just to make sure you're happy." she assured me, and I bit my lip.

"What about after, when..."

"You _really_ don't need to worry about that." Mum blushed a little then, despite her many years a married woman. "Trust me – I've seen enough of your beach romps to know that it won't be a problem." She chuckled then, standing to finish brushing out my curls in some semblance of order whilst I came to terms with the fact she had seen some of my more intimate moments with Elrohir.

"Lovely." I finally settled upon, speaking drily. Mum flashed a grin then, standing back and looking for any places where knots might have dared to hide. "What will it be like, when at last we are bound?"

Mum sat back against her bed, a thoughtful look upon her face. "It's a difficult question for me to answer, because me and Dad have a different relationship to most except for J and Tori. Fact is, you probably won't have quite the same sort of bond that we do – and I'm glad for it."

"I remember a little from when the twins were still within you – you spoke mind to mind." I stated, turning in my chair.

"Yeah, it was the same when we first married too. He... he filled a space in my soul left by the enchantment which killed us once, and then killed us again. Haldir will always say he never saw me as broken but I was, trouble. I was." Her voice shook and her eyes refused to meet my own – their colour far more pronounced for what I expected were tears not yet shed.

"No, you were not. I promise you with all of my heart." I swore, standing and pulling her to her feet so I could wrap myself in her embrace. Mum's arms went around me, holding me close despite my damp tresses, and her chin rested on my shoulder for our almost identical height.

"It will be wonderful. You'll feel his heart beating next to yours, you'll sense a little of what he feels and at first, you'll probably feel a lot of it. It will be very intense but incredible." She said to me, giving me a final squeeze. "So don't worry. Right, I think that's as close as we're going to get – as soon as it's dry, we can get you dressed."

I touched my dress as it fell in great waves about me, so thoroughly pleased at the overall result. "I feel as if I am a part of the sea." I turned, watching the material follow my steps. The gown was a shimmering blue, with a scooping neckline that left most of my shoulders bare but for the wide band of clear crystal and pearly beads that held it in place. Sweeping sleeves in white touched the floor, sheer so that my skin could be seen through the delicate material.

"That was the idea, trouble." Mum said with a laugh. "Now stand still a minute so I can put these in." She indicated to the golden flowers we had painstakingly threaded onto flexible wire just an hour before. The delicate elanor blooms looked like sunlight lifting my already fair hair, tiny twinkling gems in their hearts catching the light between the riotous curls that fell about me in their natural messy crown.

Upon my brow on a thin golden band was an elanor bloom as those in my hair, a single white stone in the centre of the petals made of the same precious metal.

"Oh Lita, you look amazing." J gushed as the last flowers were put in place and I flushed a little just as a knock on the door disturbed us. "Come in, unless you're Elrohir in which case; _sod off_!" My Aunt called cheerfully, but Dad's fair head appeared around the frame just as I turned.

"Litawen, you look a vision." He held out his hands to me and I took it, turning for him as I crossed the room.

"So I shall do, then?" I teased and he rolled his eyes. "How is Elrohir?" I knew he had spent the morning and afternoon with him to keep him out of Mother's hair, and he kissed my crown with a laugh.

"Pacing, very much as I and all your uncles did at our own bindings." He teased. "Gods, but you look the sun, sea and sky come to life." Dad marvelled, turning me again. "I am so proud of you. I hope that he deserves you, my darling daughter. " He murmured as he kissed my cheek.

"You know that we make each other truly happy." I replied, thumping his arm gently despite wearing the most feminine outfit I had ever owned. "No other could there ever be for me now, and well you know it."

"Aye, I know it." He chuckled. "I came to say that it is time for us to depart, if we are to make it in good time to Elrond's halls. I know that Lady Galadriel is most eager to speak to you before the feast begins, for it has been many long years since last she saw you."

I smiled warmly – as a young child fresh from Middle Earth I had met her, and I loved Galadriel completely as if she were one of my own family. Occasionally she corresponded with my Mum regarding the storm Elrohir and I were making, but we had managed to miss each other on our jaunts over the mountains and around the coast. "Does that mean I must ride side-saddle? You know how I detest it."

"Unless you want gown to be filthy from walking, I sadly must advise that it is indeed the case." Mum patted my shoulder sympathetically as she tucked herself into Father's arms – she disliked horses at the very best of times.

The ride was beautiful despite my discomfort – the sun was beginning to set a little more as the early evening began to set in, and along the way calls of celebration could be heard as we passed groups of homes together. It was going to be quite the party, I thought as we came nearer and nearer to Elrond's halls – so like Imladris, that beautiful great house where I had run wild and free in my youth.

"Bernadette, Litawen!" Lady Celebrian's call distracted me from my thoughts as she embraced us both in turn, followed shortly after by the Lady of Light who I felt so comfortable around. She eyed my Mother for a moment whose dark brows raised just a little, and then light laughter followed before she grasped my hands in greeting.

"This way whilst the guests are assembled, dear one, and I would have you tell me more of the trouble my Grandson has been intent on causing!" I felt a strange sensation against my mind then, and I tried not to appear startled as I heard her voice, ghostlike but warm within my mind. _Long I have waited to welcome you, for I have seen this day many times in my mind as well as others that are perhaps yet to come. So this I say to you – well met, Granddaughter. May your days be blessed. _

**xxxXxxx**

Nerves fluttered and flurried about my heart and my stomach as I waited to be brought to the feast – the beauty of the autumn sunset was sending streaks of red and gold across the sky and clouds were sent into stark relief with shadows cast from the setting sun.

"Litawen?" I turned as I heard a quiet hiss, and I felt my eyes widen as I saw Elrohir's face appear at the door. "Valar, but you look... you look like every dream I have had of the sea, lit by the summer sun."

I felt a blush come over me then, before I came to my senses. "What are you doing here?" He still remained hidden by the door and he grinned a little.

"I know you. You are fretting and pacing worse than I and I thought perhaps... perhaps knowing that I am here, and that I love you... that it might bring you a little comfort. I know how you hate these great affairs and trust me when I say that I tried to rein my Mother and Father in at least a little."

His words were hesitant, tentative, with both longing and nerves that I could sense even now despite how stunned I was that he was there. He was unrelentingly, unbearably wonderful – wonderful, sweet, and maddening all at once. I remained mute but for my smile and the tears which threatened, and beckoned him forward. He hesitated for a moment, turning to check the corridor before sweeping in and closing the door with his back against it with a look of nervousness about him

My heart fairly stopped in my chest – rarely had I seen him in any finery, and to see him in the robes for our binding was enough to render me speechless as my eyes swept him from head to toe. He was in white robes that swept the floor and at his waist a great sash of blue. As he moved closer I saw the material was not simply white, but instead woven with patterns in the very palest of blues and golden hues. Too he wore a golden circlet, a stark contrast to his dark hair, but I then found I could stare no longer as I was in his arms and he was holding me tightly to him.

"Gods, but you look wonderful – I find my words have escaped me." I trailed my fingers over the material, watching with fascination at the way the scooping sleeves caught the light as he moved.

"I hoped you would think so. I confess I have never felt so unsure of myself before – I had to at least try and be deserving of you." He pressed his lips into my hair as he did so, and I felt his muscles relax as I held him with a fierceness that equalled his own. "Now kiss me and then I shall depart so that we do not create quite the scandal." Elrohir's tone was teasing but I could not help but comply, hands weaving through the dark strands of his hair as his lips captured my own in a chaste kiss. "All this sneaking around is rather fun, do you not think?"

"Yes, it shall be a shame indeed when we no longer have to hide in little groves from prying eyes." I rolled my eyes, dancing away from his hands with a shooing motion. "Now go, my troublesome love, before someone finds you here!"

"I shall see you very soon – do try to look surprised when you see me, as I would hate for anyone to suspect anything." He grasped my face and kissed me again before stalking across the room in long strides and, after briefly glancing both left and right, slipped from the small room leaving me stood alone.

"Oh, that maddening man." I sighed, but I felt my heart skip and my giddy stomach settle as I saw him with my mind's eye again, in his robes that were the opposite to my own and eyes alight as if the stars were held within them. I picked up a book from the library where we had been curled together a year before – the poems my Mum had scribed from memory.

The minutes passed, and what little comfort his visit brought to me was seeping from my heart as the fluttering nerves began to take their hold once more. So strongly they tore at me, the thought of being at the centre of such an auspicious group, that my mind was completely overcome and I didn't hear Mum enter until she was by my side. Her eyes scanned me curiously as I stared furiously at the book in my hands unblinkingly before taking it from me and grasping my chin so my eyes were forced to meet hers.

"You, trouble, are going to have the most wonderful evening of your entire life. You are surrounded by all who love you, and I am the luckiest woman in the world to be able to call you my daughter. Today, Elrohir will have the privilege of saying he is the luckiest man in the world to be able to call you his wife, and you will be with the one you love until the end of time. Now, breathe." she instructed and I forced cool air into my lungs, closing my eyes. When I opened them I saw her smiling tenderly before she leaned over to kiss my forehead.

"I love you, and I think that I am ready."

"Oh, you'll never really be ready." Mum teased, taking my hand and tugging me from the room. "But that's what makes it so amazing. You're your own woman now, my little Lita, so go on now and show every single person just how wonderful you've become. I'm right here." She promised me, as she always did – she always knew the right thing to say, whatever it was that I needed she had ready for me.

Her tugging continued, persistent yet gentle, until I found myself before a simple door – the door that would lead me to my family, and my heart's true mate. When Mum pushed the door open and the hall was revealed, those last flurries of panic seemed to vanish completely as I saw him lit by what seemed to me to be a thousand candles. I felt her tug again, walking me through the hall amidst the sounds of joy and laughter and gentle gasps, but my eyes had fixed upon him and I felt then as if I was walking upon air as we weaved though the hall.

My troublesome partner in crime, my fierce defender and warrior, my gentle healer – all of the things Elrohir was, and now to become a part of me completely before the Valar and the Father of All. As I walked to meet him, his arm outstretched so that I could take his hand as Mum gave me a gentle push and a laugh so that I would take the final steps. He brought my hand to his lips and kissed it, and against my skin I saw him form the words that would echo in my heart eternally, the softness and warmth of his mouth against my skin a tantalising taste of that which was to come.

His eyes, usually grey as storm clouds, looked almost like silver or diamonds; they were so incandescently happy and I knew that the same look must have been mirrored in my own for his expression was one of joyous contentment. I couldn't help but smile as I mouthed the very same words back to him; indulgent looks from Mum, Lord Elrond, and from both Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn who had come today to see us bound until the world's end.

_I love you, forever._

From then on the words of the ceremony were a blur in my head and I wondered if perhaps that was the intent, for I was so lost to him from the moment he took my hand in his own. Even after as together we danced the only sure thing I held onto was the comfort of the gold ring upon my hand and the taste of his kiss against my lips before he had lifted me from my feet in a twirl, just as he had when first we declared our love.

"You are so beautiful." He spoke against my lips as we stole outside for a moment of peace and air, the gardens around Elrond's home lit by lanterns that almost appeared to float around us. I fought the furious blush – wine had warmed me and increased my tendency to display my emotions across my face like a map to my heart.

"Let us not play games and tease as to who looks better, for I rather think it is you. From the warmth and the humidity of the hall what little semblance of control we had mustered over my hair has been thoroughly undone!" I pulled at the curls which had become more and more unruly. Elrohir reached out to comb a hand through the strands, watching them separate and stretch before they recoiled once more.

"So soft, yet wild and free – the only way I would have you." He took my hand again, pulling me down a path – one that I knew lead away from the house.

"Where do you lead me, Elrohir? We should return to the feast." I argued but he rolled his eyes.

"It is long past midnight and I have a surprise for my wife. Now hush a moment." He paused, dropping my hand and then reaching behind him. Elrohir removed a pin from his sash and placed it between his teeth for a moment as he unwound the blue material, before folding it in half and holding it in his hand. He removed the pin and gazed between me and the silk thoughtfully. "Do you trust me, Lita?"

"You know that I do." I answered carefully, and then he beckoned me close before wrapping the length of silk around my eyes, using the pin to hold it firmly in place so that I could not see. "I trust you, but I also _know_ you. What chase do you lead me on?" I spoke drily, hands on my hips.

"Trust me, Litawen." I heard his voice, as smooth as the silk that bound my eyes. "We are to take a short walk – here, I have your hands." He grasped them and pulled me forward. "I will not let you fall." He laughed outright as my steps were hesitant, searching for the ground below me.

"It is not the falling that I fear; it is the landing." I grumbled. "I have fallen enough times in my childhood and do not enjoy the prospect of a broken bone on my wedding night."

"You will not fall, and you will not trip. Trust me, and trust yourself. Here, this will help." I felt his hands leave my own for a moment, before I felt them graze against my ankle as he removed my shoes with a strange tenderness.

As he stood I felt the palm that must not have held my shoes sweep up over my dress from my ankle all the way to my hip. I fought not to gasp - his pace was agonisingly slow and devastatingly intimate as I felt gathers fall and drop when his hand moved further up. Finally, finally, his arm grasped me about the waist just as my legs began to grow weak and with a swift kiss he began to lead me forward again. He was far closer to me than before and I could feel my heart racing, blood rushing in my ears as the sounds around me seemed heightened for my lack of vision. "Come, love."

With no small amount of trepidation I followed him, letting my feet direct me. Without the hard soles I found the course came easier to me, and my steps more and more sure as Elrohir gently guided me with that steady arm still about my waist. I tried to imagine where we were from the scents, sounds, and the feel of the ground beneath me but just as I was beginning to gain some semblance of comfort I felt myself lifted up and onto the warm back of a waiting horse.

"Elrohir, everyone shall see my legs!" I cried, and I heard him laugh as he swung himself to sit before me and my arms went about his waist far more tightly than they should have.

"Only I, my love, shall have the pleasure of seeing you in any state of undress this night. We are alone; listen and you shall know it." He permitted me a moment to hear the truth in his words, and then I felt him press forward and our mount began to move slowly at first, then quicker and quicker. The sensation was both terror and joy as I felt the wind whip, my dress thankfully riding no higher than my knees, and I lost all sense of direction completely. I relaxed a little and let him focus on the ride, ten or perhaps fifteen minutes passing until one of his hands moved to cover my own in a quick squeeze.

"Where do we go?" I called over the rhythmic thump of hooves and... the crash of waves?

"I told you to trust me!" He laughed and I pressed my cheek into his back, closing my eyes despite that even when open I could not see. The horse slowed and then came to stop completely, and my senses were invaded by the scent of the sea and the slight dampness of the air upon my skin.

Instead of letting me climb off Elrohir lifted me carefully and kept me within his arms. "I ask for your trust one last time, and then finally I can remove the bindings about your eyes." He sounded a little hesitant and I began to feel a little fearful as he walked with me, a slight incline.

"Elrohir, please tell me... ai!" The words were cut off by a scream as I felt us drop suddenly, my stomach flying upwards into my throat before we landed elegantly. "Oh Gods, I cannot breathe!" I clung on to him, arms about his neck, and his chuckle was a breathless one as he put me on my feet. I could hear the waves crashing around us as if we were in the sea itself, and then his lips were on mine whilst he removed my blindfold.

"Keep your eyes closed." He murmured and then turned me, firm grasp easing so that he could step back. I trembled still a little from the exhilarating rush that had followed our jump, and so the sensation of hot breath against my ear against the cool wind was enough to send shivers down my spine as he moved away. "Two steps back... and another. One more." I felt the wind ease a little and then he hand his arms firmly around my waist again. "Now, my wife, you may open your eyes."

At first, I didn't understand what I was seeing - my eyes so used to the darkness that even the night seemed bright – but my vision cleared in just a few blinks. My heart fairly stopped as I took in the sight; I was looking out over the sea, the waves crashing just below us as if I was right in the heart of it. Inadvertently I gasped, my very breath stolen away as I felt as if I soared right into the waves. I looked to the side and saw the ledge where Elrohir must have landed, and I took tentative steps out towards the edge. His arms loosened so I could do so, and I let out a disbelieving laugh as I looked down into the crashing waves far below before turning and throwing myself into his arms.

"I love you; oh, how I love you." I littered his face with kisses that were swiftly returned as he pulled me against him, taking steps backwards into the strange little alcove.

"And I you." His words were full of love but damnation, his hands were teasing and coaxing me forward until I had no choice but to give in to him; mind, body and soul. I barely paid any heed to our surroundings after that as I felt my back pinned against cold stone; a stark contrast to the heat and strength of Elrohir as he pressed against me and his hands dragged my dress higher and higher – pale skin no longer kissed by silk but by the sea air.

Kisses that once had been soft and teasing became heated. Hands that had before gently searched, teased buttons from their homes and traced maddening patterns across flushed bare skin turned to grasping ones; and voices so tender in words of love transformed into passionate cries as we claimed one-another. I had never known such desire to be possible, such completion to be known, and then as our pleas to the Valar and to Eru were spoken in gasps against the lips of the other I felt myself, my soul, reaching out for something _other_.

Deep within my heart as my back arched from the ground, I felt his heart steady and sure against my own, his soul a great swathe of deep blue about me so calm and strong that I could not help but fall into it. It was something so blissful, a never-ending joy and a love so strong it drew tears from my eyes, and I had no desire to escape it as I drew everything that was Elrohir into myself. His arms cradled me as he whispered my name over and over, almost a prayer, and I knew that he could feel me as surely as I felt him for his eyes were filled with the same wondrous disbelief. We fought for breath together until the world became still, a tangle of limbs amongst soft sheets and furs to fight off the chill of autumn, and it seemed an eternity before I could manage to speak.

"How did you find this place?" Even as a whisper, my voice echoed in my mind and my voice felt raw in my throat.

"Accidentally. I happened upon the beach below and glanced up – from then on it was as if the Valar themselves had brought me here. I spotted the ledge and I confess I did fix a rope ladder for access, but I wanted to surprise you." He looked bashful ad I finally looked around the cave – just large enough for us both to stand, but it went back a small way into the cliffs as some kind of shelter. Lit with lanterns, blankets and furs all about us, we were hidden away from all eyes that might have tried to find us.

"I cannot even begin..." I tried to speak, but then shook my head before letting Elrohir pull me close again. I felt him – I felt his contentment, his love, and his laughter right within my heart as it beat in time with his own. The sensation overwhelmed me so much so that words would not come to me, and I knew that Elrohir too felt my stumbling as my love for him completely overshadowed all other abilities I held so dear.

"Then simply stop speaking." His lips, slightly swollen from ardent kisses, pressed against my own. "You really are trouble." Elrohir murmured and I nodded with a shrug of my shoulders before settling back against him. I listened to the beat of his heart in his chest and the song of his soul in my mind, all accompanied by the tide like the heartbeat of the earth around us.

* * *

**Reviews, as always, sincerely appreciated. I love you all!**


	8. Litawen at Six Hundred

**Hey everyone! **

**Sorry for the slight delay - every kind of busy recently. I'm glad so many are enjoying the story so far :) **

**A bit of a jump forward now. I like this chapter because siblings are siblings, and whether you're immortal or not they know how to press our buttons!  
****Reviews, as always, are so sincerely appreciated as they give me more reasons to write :)**

**Lots of love, **

**MM-x**

* * *

"You disgust me." I hissed under my breath as Callon lounged about in the tree we three occupied, boasting of his latest fancy with Gelluion at great length. Not a small part of me wondered if this was how Elladan and Elrohir had been in their wilder years – a complete contradiction. My twin brothers were prideful yet sweet, flirtatious yet endlessly loving, playful but serious when it was required of them to be. They protected me as I protected them, a great trio as Mum and my Aunts were, but they also drove me to absolute distraction.

"Why, darling Litawen?" Callon leapt from his own branch down to me as I stalked the brush with my eyes for my target.

"It reviles me that you treat ladies as playthings, when you know full well you are far too old now for such antics. Four hundred, perhaps three hundred years ago we could look the other way but you go too far. You will leave a poor lady in tears one day if you are not careful – one who is not wise to your reputation as most are." I added as Gelluion frowned, opening his mouth to refute my claim.

"No, Litawen, we will not. It is only meant in jest and none are hurt. Truly, most find it rather entertaining." He told me, trying to placate me.

"Yes, and what happens when one day you come across a lady like Aunty J, who you drive to become riddled with guilt because she fears you genuinely like her, hmm?"

"That turned out well enough in the end, though! You have now been married for how long?" Cal teased me, nudging my shoulder playfully still.

"It is not the point you little... Oh, I do hope you one day come across a lady who dares to slap you for your impudence, brother-mine." I finally lost my cool with him, turning despite crouching. "If you do not watch your step, you shall become shameful to our family."

"Oh yes, that pride you hold so dear for 'helping' us. Yes, we all sincerely thank you for improving our standing society, but you need not lord it over us quite so thoroughly!" Gelluion said calmly and I gaped, standing swiftly. I had to get away from them; we had always bickered but we

"You... that was _awful_, Gel." I felt dizzy with the slam of hurt, the dark look in my brother's eye a shock beyond shock. "I did everything I did for you, for Amdiriel! I never wanted any of you to know just how much it hurt to be mocked so thoroughly as I was."

"Oh, woe is Litawen! Will the pity-party never cease?" Cal snapped and I stared between them both, feeling tears form for the first time in many hundreds of years. One hand covered my mouth and I saw both of their horrified looks as I stepped back and my foot met nothing but air. "Lita!" He cried, reaching out to me, but as our fingertips brushed my weight took over and I fell.

"Bugger and damna...ai!" I cried out as I landed terribly, bouncing from a lower branch which sent a shooting pain through my back and then landing upon my wrist with a dull snap. I was winded and my lungs screamed for air as both of my brothers landed by my side.

"Roll her!" Gelluion told his twin rapidly and as I was rolled I felt another tearing pain in my back. "You shot yourself with your own arrow, you _fool_." Gel sighed and Cal pushed my knees to my chest to help stop the desperate spasms of my stomach so I could heave in air. "There we go." He said soothingly, rubbing my back as I coughed.

"Gods, I am so sorry Litawen." Cal said, pressing a brotherly kiss to my wrist that was clearly broken. "I did not mean it, and well you know it. I was only riled for I saw truth in your words." He pleaded desperately and I nodded, eyes still watering now from the physical pain.

"I... think that's quite enough... for one day." I pushed myself up on my good wrist, and then my brothers helped me up the rest of the way. "Take the kills and... sell them." I stood stiffly and both my brothers looked concerned. "I shall be fine – Elrohir can pay this week for our things."

"I do not know why he doesn't anyway." Callon announced, taking my good arm, and Gel kept close to my side to make sure nothing hit my injured arm or back after he carefully strapped my bow and knife around me.

"I don't let him, it is quite that simple. If he had his way I would never work another day and live as a lady of leisure. I fear this shall not please him, nor do anything to convince him otherwise." I gestured with a nod of my head and the men either side of me laughed as one.

"Aye, perhaps. Come, we shall take you home. I am sorry too, little Lita." Gelluion looked contrite and I leaned against him a little. "I love you, even when you are a self-righteous pain in the rear."

"And I love you both even when you are womanising know-it-all's." I teased back, this time gently and in absolute jest despite my pain. "This is going to suck." I spoke in English then as we neared my little talan, where still we lived together in our own bubble of happiness. It was far more expressive a tongue than Sindarin and Quenya, although the Common tongue of Middle Earth did sometimes compare, and I adored still to speak it whenever I could.

"It really is. Deep breath, and courage." Callon patted my shoulder with a sigh in the same tongue and I groaned out loud before straightening, drawing myself to my full height and disregarding the searing pain in my back the best I could.

"You both owe me, and until such a time as I decide your debt is paid you shall keep on owing me." I muttered darkly and they both gulped, scampering away before I had anything further to say. I might have been half a foot shorter than they, but the words of an older sister were not ones to be trifled with.

"Come on then, woman. Better to deal with this swiftly." I spoke to myself sternly under my breath, letting my wrist hang as naturally as I dared before mounting the stairs two at a time.

"Litawen? Good Valar, you look like the boar had at you, rather than the other way around! What happened?"

I brushed of Elrohir's admonishment as much as I could, placing my bow and arrows by the door before kicking off my boots and dragging off my tunic with one arm, wandering into the bedroom to hide my agonised expression as I caught my wrist. He followed me and then cursed seeing the gash at my back and I felt a twinge of fear from him – our bond a delight still to me now, after all the years we had spent together.

"I fell, that is all. I was not paying attention as I should have been whilst bickering with the twins; it became a little heated and..." I swore violently and suddenly as I felt cool liquid against my back, the pressure making me feel a little faint as Elrohir dabbed something against the gash. "What the _hell _was that?" I fell into the tongue of my Mother, and Elrohir pressed firmer still in dabs and sweeps.

"Language, love. It is Benny's favourite sterilising fluid; if you have enough stomach to gain such a cut you can stomach having it cleaned." I sighed, letting him lead me forward and then cried out as he grabbed my wrist. "That is broken." He said flatly, grey eyes suddenly rather dark and I glared at him as I smacked his hand away. It was becoming swollen now, and I knew it would be a cast for me.

"Yes, well spotted dearest." I bit, cradling my wrist protectively.

"What argument caused such a fall?"

"Callon was being an ass – you know our relationship has always been a tempestuous one. I love him, truly, but manners sometimes need to be beaten into him. It became a two-on-one attack that resulted in me falling from a tree, but it did have the desired effect when riddled with guilt they became. The tandem flirtatious attacks upon poor, unsuspecting ladies shall now cease at least for a little while."

"You are ridiculous, the three of you." He sighed, wrapping a blanket around my shoulders so that I wasn't completely bare.

"You speak as if you did not do the exact same, husband-mine, yet I suspect you were no better. I know the mind of a twin." I pointed out as he gently took my hand, examining the break.

"The less said on that, the better." He looked a little flushed and I knew I was correct. "Come, I had thought to have a bath prepared for you anyway but now I must insist on getting you clean. Benny will have my hide." Elrohir moaned as he let go of my hand.

"Tis not the first time my wrist has required setting, love." I said fondly, and then grimaced. "Though a painkiller would not go amiss."

"You know where they are. Get in the bath, wench, and I shall pester Benny for the supplies I need to bind your wrist. Be careful with your back until I am able to see if stitches are needed."

"Get some of her numbing cream too, love, just in case you do. I do so detest stitches." I grimaced again as I walked to the bathroom, undressing the rest of the way and sinking into the blissfully hot water. Thankfully the water did not rise high enough to touch the cut at my back but still I washed carefully, letting the grime of my otherwise successful hunt wash away.

I let myself relax, leaning forward a little with my head on my knees, and almost drifted off into a light sleep when a thud startled me.

"Lita, you are an absolute nightmare." I looked up and saw Mum, followed by a sheepish Elrohir. "You are 600 years old and still you fight with your brothers like you did as children."

"Then remind them that they are in fact only a little younger than I, and should perhaps consider settling down rather than playing poor ladies for absolute fools." I snapped, and then winced at my own tone. "I'm sorry, I do dislike being in pain. We have already made our apologies to one another." My wrist felt soothed by the hot water, but the deep pain radiating up my arm could not be ignored even if I tried.

"I'm sure. Could you set me up a space? I have something new I'm trying." Mum explained as she asked Elrohir to cut her strips of cloth. She helped me carefully out of the bath and tutted at the cut on my back, dabbing me dry before helping me to dress just as she had when I was many years younger.

"That should be fine without stitches, you'll be pleased to know. I'll just bandage you up..." She paused, grabbing a roll from the drawers where Elrohir kept his own supplies and wrapping it around me firmly before slipping a light tunic over my shoulders, fastening it in place as she carefully moved my arm whilst keeping my wrist as still as possible.

"What is this new method of yours then, Benny?" Elrohir asked as she sat me at the dining table, laying my wrist flat. I hissed as she manoeuvred the bones slightly, reaching out to grab Elrohir's hand and squeezing as she made sure they would set correctly.

"Swear away, Lita – I know you want to." Mum said absently and I let the words come to me, earning a laugh and then raised brows as I felt a particularly vile curse come to me.

"Where did you learn _that_ one?" She asked as she wrapped a dry length of cloth at my wrist and around my thumb.

"Tori." I grimaced as she finished the thin wrap. "It is always Tori, and well you know it. She taught me my first curses, after all."

"That she did." Mum chuckled, and then decided that she was ready for the next step.. "So we dip the mesh into the clay solution – see how it absorbs it?" She was speaking to Elrohir now who nodded with a frown. "We then wrap the layers around the cast, letting each one dry to the touch before adding the next. It's more long-winded, but it means we can make the cast lighter but still as solid. Or, so is my hope anyway."

"I do so love being experimented upon." I spoke with a sigh as she created the first wrap of my arm in the damp material.

"Your Father said the same once, but don't you like my numbing cream?" Her brows rose as she sat back, wiping her hands on a towel.

"Your numbing cream is a gift from the Valar themselves." I said honestly, watching with curiosity as the clay set. "This seems different to the others – is the clay different too?"

"Well spotted – yes. It's complicated to explain, but it's a form of stone ground down and then roasted at high heat in a kiln. It changes the properties of the stone so that when you wet it and then leave it to dry, it forms a hard shell. Me and some of the potters had a lot of fun getting it right – your brothers were my test subjects too in the process."

I blinked twice and then looked at Elrohir, who looked equally confused. "Oh, come on! Like when you temper metals for swords. Heating it up, beating the hell out of it, and then cooling it down; then heating, then cooling? Same principle." She explained.

"As you say." Elrohir looked sceptical as Mum applied the next layer. "Are you feeling better? You look less pale now." He asked me, brushing damp curls from my face where they stuck. I leaned into his touch a little, the feeling bringing peace upon me as it had for five hundred blissful years as I felt the same warmth of his heart and love within me.

"It is always the same as a bone is set. When finally it becomes still, the pain eases."

"That's good... and I think we're done. Be careful, keep it steady, and in a month you should be okay to go. You broke a bone in your wrist and both of the bones in your lower arm – you really must have landed bloody terribly, trouble." Mum eyed me as she packed her things back up. "Callon, Gelluion and I shall be having a chat. They really should know better."

"Hmm, no need. I handled them quite thoroughly." I told her with a slight wiggle of my fingers. "This may need resetting once the swelling goes down."

"Probably, come see me if it feels loose." She dusted her hands off with a slight smile. "In fact, come see me anyway. Now you are grounded for a while, come to dinner tonight – usual time, usual place." She gave my shoulder a squeeze across the table.

"We shall, thank you Benny." He grasped her hand in a double thanks – for both the invite and for fixing me, and she looked ecstatic. Elrohir grinned at her, still fast friends even now, and then wandered to the kitchen searching our cupboards for tea. "Do you want any?" He gestured to the kettle upon the stove and she shook her head.

"Sadly, it was just a flying visit. I have _so _ much cooking to do, so I've got to dash. See you tonight, demon child and spouse." Elrohir laughed outright then as she waved, collecting her basket of things and making her escape.

"Well, I am now cut off quite thoroughly." I said miserably when Mum had left – I knew the break had been a bad one, but I had not expected it to require quite so long to set. "I hate this." I stared at the pale cast on my arm, flexing my fingers again and wondering idly if I would still be able to use my bow. The left hand which held my bow was unhindered and so only the arm which drew the string was cast...

"Do not even think it, Litawen." Elrohir passed me a mug of tea and I sighed, looking up from the kitchen table where I still sat. "I can see your mind as clear as day – you cannot, and will not, hunt when wearing a cast. You may just about be able to draw your bow, but how would you carry your kills, hmm?"

"What am I to do with myself?" Elrohir came to stand beside me and leaned my head against his hip, his arm going around my shoulders in a gentle squeeze. "I feel at a loss, and I dislike a lack of income."

"For once, you shall take some time to yourself. Wander the cliffs; go down to the beach, or even go into town. Good Valar, see Tath and Mir! Or even Amdiriel – I know she has come to see Osellë with Elanor, seeing as Glorfindel and your Aunt have returned just this last day. I suspect it is why we have been invited for dinner. "

"I love how you know more about my own family than I do." I joked and he laughed, leaning over to tilt my chin up and kiss me. Amdiriel had made fast friends with Elanor, one of our ever-expanding group of Aunts, and now lived over the mountains with her and the Lady Galadriel most of the time. I hadn't seen her for around twenty years, and the thought of seeing my darling cousin again brought great joy to my heart.

"That, my huntress, is because I see more of them than you do sometimes."

"That was perhaps a little mean of you to say, love." I felt a little downcast by his words – the pain in my arm still pronounced enough to cause a melancholy so usually unknown to me.

"Stop it, love, and take a blasted painkiller." He rolled his eyes. "Shall we go and see them now – make a few house-calls?"

I nodded, standing stiffly. "I cannot believe my own arrow caught me. Dad will never let me live it down."

"No." Elrohir took my cast arm, kissing the fingers that were not bound. "I am certain you shall bear it admirably, nonetheless. Take a painkiller or I shall force it upon you."

I saluted, earning a laugh and then walked into the bathroom, rifling through the baskets that held various draughts and remedies I had so come to love. "There is no pain reliever, what madness is this?" I called out and I felt a swell of love from my husband.

"Sorry, love; here." I felt his arm about my waist as he held a bottle before me. "I forgot that I had not brought them in – a new batch." He clarified.

"Will you help me to change my tunic to something more fitting, and perhaps braid my hair?" I asked meekly as I felt the soothing draught ease the awful pain in my wrist and back until it no longer made my temper vile. His longing was vastly apparent to me then – his pleasure at being needed, his desire to help me and just to hold me close.

"I really have been away more than I have been at home, have I not?" I turned and let him guide me to dress, hands lingering against my skin as his deft fingers removed the light but well worn tunic Mum had found for me.

"Hmm." He hummed, distracted then by the bandages about me, making sure they were fixed in place still before sliding a more elegant tunic about me – one of Mum's designs, made to look more like a dress than the garb of a man. "You are so beautiful."

"Even after all this time?" I dared to tease, reaching up to kiss those lips which so riled me until I was red in the face or drove me otherwise to absolute distraction.

"All the more for it." He promised, lips lingering at my jaw for a moment as his hands began to remove the tunic he had only just placed upon me. "In fact, I think I shall take a little time now to remind you of it..." Elrohir's fingers drifted over my lower back until I shivered, his mouth leaving a heated trail down my neck and lower still until he reached the bandage about my torso.

It had been some time since we had driven each other to those giddy heights of pleasure and I found my desire for him burning still as brightly as ever he did. I laughed as I tried to undo the infernal buttons of his robes, reacquainting myself with all those places which made him gasp or cry out to the sky. With one wrist bound and back still remarkably sore his movements were tender and delicate as if I were spun of glass, and I let myself become lost in his gentle ministrations. His heart, so sure and so full of love, beat next to mine as now always it did... and that always would.

**xxxXxxx**

"I adore our family – so full of love and so united. Amongst our people I sometimes think it can be a rare thing." Elrohir smiled later that evening as Mum scurried about, handing place settings to us. We would be eating outside – the warmth of the spring night a perfect one for such a family gathering.

"You know, I know so little of your family even now. Of course I know Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn, your Mother and Father, but other than that?" I left the question to hang in the air as I got a little kindling to light with a flint, taking a small branch so that I could light the candles about us.

"It is a complicated matter." He said to me. "One that for now is perhaps best left alone. Father has not yet sought his Mother out and until such a time as he does it is best not to speculate. As for his Father... well, you know the tale." Elrohir leaned back against the tree as I placed a candle within a lantern and used a little string to hang it. My eyes drifted to the sky, as did his.

"Does ever he come to Valinor?"

"I know not. The blessing of his gift – his immortal life and the life of Elwing – is perhaps outweighed by the stipulation that neither he nor my Grandmother could set foot again upon mortal soil. The tales say that she flies as if she were a great bird to the skies and greets him as he sails close to our haven and so I do not know that he _can_ come to Valinor, but I know not the truth of it."

"Have you thought to visit her?" I asked curiously, and to my surprise he blushed a little.

"I confess out of curiosity I have, but I yet feel no familial love for her so I have not found her tower nor the small city in which it stands. I fear I have a great deal more love for Glorfindel than I do she, more love in fact for Benny. I think that is a sorry state of affairs, yet I find I know not how to remedy it." He looked so torn, and I let my heart reach out to him in a gesture of comfort which I knew he felt as a small smile captured his lips.

"Perhaps – yet we love those who help to shape and mould who we become." I kissed him as I passed, keeping my flame far away from his robes and hair. "I think you should see her. I can appreciate why your Father may be hesitant, but still you are your own person and do have a right to know your family"

"See who?" Mum asked, peering over the bannister and throwing down a great table-cloth which Elrohir caught deftly.

"My Grandmother."

"Who, Galadriel?" She asked curiously with a frown. "Why would that be any cause for deb... oooh, you mean the _other_ Grandmother."

"Indeed." Elrohir said drily as Mum came down with the last stack of plates – all food would be laid out for people to have at as they would. "Have you any words of wisdom, or thoughts on the matter?"

"Only one, and I shall begin it with 'Bloody Sodding Silmarils'. I doubt she was in a good frame of mind and for a lot of long years I'm certain she was almost... addicted to the power of it, and when it was taken away from her it must have been almost like going through withdrawal. None of us are entirely good or entirely evil, Elrohir; we're all shades of grey – some darker, some lighter."

"I suppose. Father has yet to see her and I would not encroach upon that which is his right."

Mum tutted as I continued to light candles, laying out place-mats for food to go on. "Its yours too. He might _never_ want to and you do need to consider that a very real possibility, much as I disagree with the stance. There was a man in my time who said 'Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts'. Well, Elwing certainly continued didn't she? Both she and Eärendil, in fact. They morphed their weakness into their absolute strength."

I smiled to myself, standing upon the very tips of my toes to hang a final lantern. She could be crude, rash and sometimes open her mouth to speak before her mind caught up with her, but she always knew what to say at the right moment.

"You speak as if you would like to meet them, too." Elrohir stated after a moment, and Mum laughed outright. I put out the branch I had used to light the candles, the warm glow lighting the space around us just as the sun was beginning to set.

"Yes, I would – we ladies of stranger fates must stick together. Wait, are you asking for backup, you sneaky little bugger?"

"Perhaps." He finally relented and I put my arms around Mum's waist, resting my chin on her shoulder. I had missed them so much, and I had not truly realised just how much until that moment. Her arms folded over my own, giving me a squeeze as she leaned back into the embrace – two short elves together.

"Hey, trouble." She kissed my cheek and then turned back to Elrohir. "Deal – only on the condition that you get your Father and Glorfindel to back off on the _'Benny, you should really meet Gil-galad'_ thing."

"I can try." My husband said doubtfully; I understood his concerns. Glorfindel and Elrond were pushing in such a way, there would be a chance soon enough when they would simply bring the once High-King to our humble dwelling and spring him upon her unannounced. "You really should just get it over and done with, Benny, and then they shall stop pestering you. He is really not so bad at all once you come to know him. He is rather like Haldir, but with perhaps a little more optimism." Elrohir said sympathetically. "A strange mix of he and Glorfindel, actually. Certainly, he has a much fairer temperament than Thranduil and you rather like that particular lord for reasons I cannot fathom."

"Right, so he's a sarcastic bugger and ridiculously happy whilst being so, and yet not as coarse as Thranduil. What joy." Mum said drily, stroking my arm that was cast.

"_That_ is precisely why you should meet him. I rather think you will get on rather splendidly." I turned and waved at Glorfindel carefully with my good arm, the other still around Mum.

"Where is that cousin of mine, Uncle? I have missed her."

"Coming shortly; Jade is insistent upon mothering her to death first and settling in now we have retrieved her. Why is your wrist broken?" He looked questioningly at me and Elrohir sighed.

"Do you remember how Elladan and I were in some of our more wild days, and the ways in which we wound Arwen up so thoroughly until she fled to Lorien?" He spoke, still leaning against a tree. He could speak now of his sister with fondness and with far less pain than once he had, but today I could see a slight shadow in his eyes as he reminisced on those times past.

"Well enough. I see not why this has to do with Litawen's broken wrist."

"They drove me to fall out of a tree, good Valar!" I cried, throwing my hands up in defeat. "Yes, I fell out of a tree again. Can we get back to the topic at hand of whether Elrohir should visit his Grandmother?"

"Elrond has chosen at this time to remain separated from that part of his family, but he would not hold it against you if you sought to know them." Glorfindel shrugged and I wandered to him, giving him a hug.

"Gods, life is far too short." I heard Mum murmur to Elrohir, who looked slightly confused at the expression. "What I mean is that it just isn't worth the hassle, so they really should just hash it out and deal with it. Everyone makes terrible decisions sometimes."

"Do they really?" Elrohir looked amused and I winked at him from my embrace with my Uncle, who looked equally amused – clearly, he knew just what mistakes my Mother spoke of.

"I can start with terrible decisions beginning in my childhood, and ending... well, never." She frowned and I laughed before a slight gasp took me – my painkillers were beginning to wear off.

"Stop speaking, Benny." Glorfindel rolled his eyes, trying to spare her blushes. "It is good to see you, Litawen. It has been quite some time since last we had a chance to speak."

"I know it. How was your time over the mountains?"

"Remarkably pleasant. Amdiriel has settled well and I also bring news that..."

"_Litawen!"_ I heard her joyful cry and I wiggled out of his arms, ignoring the pain in my back as I hugged my beautiful cousin. "Oh Valar, how I have missed you." Her hands grasped my shoulders, and then her eyes fell on my cast. Her hair fell in glorious gold and silver waves about her, eyes a deep blue and lips in a permanent smile; sometimes I wondered that she was not more fair than even her Father was in her beauty. "What happened here?"

"Oh, it will keep. What is this news of which Glorfindel speaks?" I whispered to her in that language our Mums shared, and she grinned as she leaned close to my ear.

"Mum is with child. A girl – she will be here shortly. She was blessed with her whilst we were over the mountains still." I shrieked and threw my arms about her. I hissed as her hands clasped where my back was injured and she stepped back, a look of horror on her face. "Oh darling, I am so sorry! I insist on knowing what happened."

"Callon and Gelluion – enough is said, I feel." I grimaced, and she shared my expression.

"Those boys will get themselves into no end of trouble. I do not wish for my little brother to only have them for good influence."

"_Jesus Christ, you're pregnant!" _I heard Mum's shout, and we shared a giggle together as we had when she was much younger, though only one hundred years separated us. As Tatharien was, she was more like a sister to me than a mere cousin – something bound to happen with a family so close.

Aunty J was already looking round, and I could all but see the speech between she and Glorfindel in their minds as she let Mum fuss over her. Amdiriel smiled faintly and with a small bow of her head went to stand by her Father, her head against his shoulder as they all became reacquainted again.

"Ah, what joy this is." I felt strong arms about my waist in an embrace that only served to exacerbate my back and I cringed away from the touch. "... Litawen?" I twisted and saw Father gazing at me curiously, flanked by my Uncles Orophin and Rumil who I had not seen in so long. "What happened here? Why do you flinch?"

"She fell from a tree and sliced her back with her own arrow!" I heard the playful cry and I felt my eyes narrow, head snapping in the direction of the voice. Quick as a flash I whipped the small dagger from my Father's belt before he could understand what was going on, and Callon found it embedded in the tree, the blade just having brushed his cheek. "Er, yes, ahem. Debt to be repaid, is that correct? Of course. I'll just... Er... Aunty Osellë and Tatharien. Yes, that's what I'll do."

He shuffled away meekly, knowing full well he deserved my ire, and I turned back to Dad who looked faintly amused by the whole ordeal. "Fighting with the twins again?" He asked and I rolled my eyes before nodding.

I leaned against him and into the far more gentle hug he offered, content once more now that my terror of a brother was out of sight once more. "Really, your own arrow?" I felt his laughter and thumped him with my good arm, trying to escape before he held me back, checking my wrist. "You three shall be the death of me." He spoke under his breath.

"Damn it! Best of three?" I looked over my shoulder at where Mum and Aunty J seemed to be playing some game or another, and Amdiriel came to stand beside me once more.

"What are they doing?" I queried, watching as their hands formed different shapes on the count of three.

"Playing a game named Rock, Paper, Scissors. I think it is somewhere between a game of skill and a game of chance." She said, watching them curiously.

"And what is it they are playing for?" I asked, now equally entertained by Mum's horrified expression. "Is there a prize, or is it as if flipping a coin?"

"Ha! More like a coin-toss, I fear. The wager is whether she will actually meet Gil-galad, I believe." Amdiriel said lightly and I laughed before hissing at the pain again.

"Oh _come on!_ Best of five?" Mum said pleadingly, and after two more rounds a loud curse swept through the clearing. "Kill me now." She cried out, her head hitting the table with a solid thud.

"Well, I believe she lost. I should offer my commiserations. " Dad said with humour, kissing my crown before sauntering up to my Mum, arms around her and seeming to soothe her passions in an instant. Amdiriel put her arm around my hip and I assumed the same position, leaning in to her with a small smile toying at my lips. Elrohir spoke easily with my Uncles, Dad's brothers, and Glorfindel was speaking now animatedly with Father himself.

Everyone looked so sincerely happy, and it warmed me to my bones. Even when my brothers returned with Osellë and Tatharien, tentative smiles upon their faces as they glanced at me, I only felt more of that same happiness rise.

"Did you ever think life would be so wonderful, Lita?" She asked me her fingers playing and springing my curls just as she had as a babe.

"I hoped. My heart is glad, Ami; for just this once, life is everything I dreamed of."

* * *

**What do you think? I love this not-so-little family! Read, review, and I hope you enjoyed!**


	9. Six Hundred - Part 2

**Hi all! **

**We are delving into Silmarillion-shaped lands today, as we touched on in the last chapter. If you have any questions, the best thing to do is look on a LOTR Wiki, or even the demon Wikipedia. If you are into the characters, please, _please_ read The Silmarillion. It's an amazing, amazing book.**

**For reference, Elwing and Earendil are Elrond and his twin brother Elros' parents. If you start from there, you will read the beautiful but terrible tale of their fates, and you should come across Maglor and Maedhros. Maglor took pity on the young Elrond and Elros and came to love them as a Father, and for a time raised them as if they were his own. Maglor's fate is never made quite clear but I personally think he fades in Middle Earth after the heartache and destruction of his family, and is later given form once more in Valinor. He's known for his voice and his music, and is said to have written a great lay about the downfall of the Noldor... and I like to think that was him repenting for everything, for all the wrongs of his family, as best he could.**

**I like Maglor, he's one of my favourite of Tolkien's characters. Read, my pretties, and review!**

**MM -x**

* * *

Furtive voices caught my ear as I wandered the woods the following day, trying to do something with my time whilst Elrohir was working with Elrond in some sense or another – chronicling the history of Middle Earth's Third and Fourth ages whilst the elves still remained, last I heard. I pressed myself flat against a tree and willed my heart to slow as I did when I hunted, my breathing shallow and silent as I listened to the clearly distraught words.

"You really should just meet the elf, love. Glorfindel holds him in high regard and so does Elrond – you will only serve to insult them and even him if you do not at least speak to him once." That was certainly Dad – a fight clearly continuing from yesterday evening.

"... I don't want it, Haldir! I want my family, those I love, but I don't want or need to know any of the nobility Glorfindel and Elrond are trying to push on me!"

"Benny, whether you like it or not you are tied to many of those individuals now by marriage and one day by blood when our children are blessed with children of their own." My Father's voice was soothing.

"How has that happened? How is it that we have become so entwined with so many stories, so many valiant histories?" She sounded confused and a little sad. "I just, for once in my life, want to be normal."

"Well, you can thank Litawen, Jade and Victoria for that." Dad laughed and I felt a slightly guilty smile capture me – he was right. "It is strange. For a simple elf such as I, to be surrounded by such lords and ladies as we are... I sometimes feel out of place, I confess."

"But you are close still to the Lady, Lord Celeborn, to Glorfindel and Legolas!" Mum protested.

"In Middle Earth, love. Here, whilst respected and revered still they are, we are engulfed by those valiant histories you speak of. I understand your concerns, your fears... your nervousness. I know you run again with Osellë, do not try to deny it."

"Of course I am. Apart from the fact that I would adore my stomach to return to some semblance of flat, I need to de-stress. Why would any of them want anything to do with us, Haldir?"

Dad snorted delicately. "Me? I imagine they do not even consider _me_. It is _you_, love. You helped to save Middle Earth, in your own way. You kept your knowledge of Sauron through fire and through agony, and still yet you stand not driven to madness. Few others can truly claim such a feat."

I felt my heart thud painfully in my chest – Dad was entirely correct. She was a part of the legend of the War of the Ring amongst the elves, just as Aunty Tori and Uncle Legolas were a part of the Fellowship. In our fight to ensure acceptance for our family, Elrohir and I had also spread her story far and wide so that half-truths were no longer whispered, but full tales told in song to the sky. It seemed now that our actions were coming back to us, and now they had teeth.

"I'll disappoint them all." Mum seemed to be warning him, and Dad laughed outright. "Don't do that! I will. They will all wonder just how a ridiculous woman like me managed to fend of Sauron. Gods, I don't even know how I managed it. You _know_ the sort of people Elrond is related to, or considers family."

"Says the woman who is friends with a Prince and a slayer of Balrogs." Dad said and I could hear the roll of his eyes in his tone, even if I could not see the action. I would have done the very same.

"_One _Balrog, and Legolas doesn't count."

"Is one not enough for you, now? Fine then – friends with a _King_. Oh, do not give me that look; you and Thranduil are friends and well you know it. A peculiar friendship it is, but a friendship nonetheless." There was silence then for a moment, and then I heard his sigh interrupt the peace. "There is something more."

"Yeah, there is." She paused.

"Are you going to tell me, or do I have to play guessing games?" Dad asked blandly.

"Elladan still hasn't come back." Her words were a whisper. "You know what that means."

I felt my heart stop. I had been thinking this myself, and I knew that Elrohir had been strangely silent on the topic of the twin who was conspicuously absent from our lives. "You promised you would not pick it apart, Benny." He said reproachfully, and I pressed myself closer against the tree as his voice sounded nearer to me. I wouldn't have them discover me, for it was sometimes hard enough having Mum open up to anyone.

"I can't help it. There's one thing that keeps going around and around in my mind and I can't get rid of it – especially with all the talk of their family." She hesitated, and my own heart hesitated with her. I knew what she was thinking; Elrohir actively avoiding all discussion of his brother had lead me to it as surely as it had the lady nearby.

"Damnation, why must you seek to know everything?" He asked heavily.

"If he's doing what I think he's doing, then I have every damn right to know. And it frustrates me, because I'm pretty sure there is only one person I can ask for sure and I've not seen him since we arrived here. You know what Dad thinks – he told me about when he was in the hospital and..." Her words became muffled suddenly.

"Benny, leave it be for your own sake. I know well what Gaelin believes and even if it is true, what will knowing change? Absolutely nothing, and in the meantime it shall only bring you constant worry." Dad said firmly, and then there was silence again for an entirely different reason. I heard a quiet gasp and a cry break the stillness, and I grinned darkly before slinking away through the trees as quietly as I had come – I was certain neither had heard me and I was happy for it to remain that way for now. I had an encounter to prepare for, and then my husband would come to regret having me around the house quite so often.

It was time that Elrohir and I had a chat about the whereabouts of his missing brother, before it tore my Mum and her own family apart.

**xxxXxxx**

"Litawen? What is all of this?"

I shrugged from my position on the settee, glass of wine in hand with the rim of the glass pressed to my lips thoughtfully. "I find myself in need of occupation."

"Food is never a part of your occupation, even when you do not hunt." Elrohir looked at me with a piercing gaze, trying to see through into what I was planning as he closed the door behind him with the heel of his boot. "You are very still – usually your emotions race and skitter."

"I have found a little peace today whilst walking, and I have taken a painkilling draught or two too." I confessed. I didn't admit to the calming draught which was more likely the cause of my calm than any pain reliever – nerves had begun to make themselves known and so I had taken a draught to stay the course.

"How is your back?" He asked, and I poured him a glass of wine before he sat opposite me. I lounged easily across him and he grasped my legs, pulling my feet onto his lap.

"Fine, love. Tomorrow or the day after I imagine it shall be mostly healed and I can remove the bandages." I smiled, touching my glass to his in a quiet toast. "I was thinking upon what we discussed about your family last night."

"I thought as much. Poor Benny, she really does not wish to meet Gil-galad does she?"

"He was the High King of the Noldor, need I remind you?" I pointed out, taking a sip of my wine.

"Thranduil was King of Mirkwood and is far more imposing than Gil-galad, when on a personal level. The way Father tells it, he is only truly imposing with a spear in his hand and has mellowed rather thoroughly since his return. That said... an idea came to both Father and I."

"Oh, now then! There is trouble indeed when Elrond seeks to meddle. Pray tell, what is this idea?"

"I say Father and I, but truly it is the intended guest who came to us with the request and we simply agreed to it. Why not introduce her to Maglor first?" He said hesitantly.

I paused, my breath catching a little in my throat. "That... that is _sneaky_. I did not think such plots still rested in your heart." I chuckled. I had met the elf Elrond considered more of a Father on one or two brief occasions – he had been soft spoken, thoughtful, and he adored music in all its forms. "If you perhaps persuaded her to go to your Father's and applied her to the music room to let her heart roam free, you could spring him upon her!" I let the excitement grip me a little. "She wouldn't even recognise him."

"I know it, and so does Father. She truly does not realise just how many people wish to meet and to know her, does she? Gods, such shyness seems to grip her sometimes despite her front of confidence."

Ah, Elrohir – he knew how to inadvertently steer the conversation just in the direction I hoped he would. "I overheard Mum and Dad speaking on the very subject." I said, lightly but with my words still measured.

"Oh, did you now?" I saw his eyes alight with laughter, and I knew that the time had come to broach the topic and say the words that had twisted in my heart for so long.

"I did. Your brother is staying to send Mum and her family back, isn't he?"

The silence was truly deafening but for the whisper of our breath, and I could hear my heart pounding in my ears as I finally dared to speak. Elrohir shut his eyes wearily, his head drooping forward. "Litawen..."

"Isn't he, Elrohir?" I tried to keep the course, not giving him the chance to squirrel out of it as so often he had in the past.

"Yes. Yes, though he never did directly say the words, I know that is what Mithrandir asked of him. He always said he could not say them, and that it hurt him when he tried." He almost sounded as if he were in pain. "Please do not tell Benny, I could not stand to have her hate me for keeping this from her. We are not Maia enough to create such an enchantment but..."

"But there is just enough of them within you to end it." I finished for him and he nodded.

"It is the reason we may not fade as others would if we were to linger, unless we were to choose a fully elven or a fully mortal life. In staying within Middle Earth, Elladan delays that choice as we have ever been granted to do."

I stayed silent, putting my glass of wine down and reaching over to remove the glass from his fingers that he gripped so tightly for fear he would cause it to crack. I lifted myself on my good wrist and slid forward so that I was nearer to him and his arms went around me to hold me close. "She doesn't blame either of you. She knows the enchantment was broken, and she knows now it had to be for all of this to come to pass." I gestured about me. "She would not seek to change any of it."

"In breaking it, he kills her. That was why he could not speak on it, I fear." His voice was so strained, so full of desperate sadness, and as I gazed upon his face I saw that for the first time a lone tear had escaped. In all the years I had known and loved him, not once had I seen him cry even for his sister long gone, nor for the brother he chose to leave behind.

"It is the human condition, Elrohir." I said tenderly. "In being born, all men know that they will one day leave this world. They are not bound to it as we are, and well Mum knew it. She still carries part of it with her deep within her heart, and sometimes I think it surprises her that her hair is not grey, nor her hands wrinkled or bones stiff with age. "

"I will never understand it. I will never understand knowing that it is all that they will have to live."

"But you fear that once he has lived his time with Men, Elladan will choose that doom?" I asked gently, and instead of answering he simply held me tighter with his head resting on my shoulder. "I do not think that it is his fate, love." I ran my fingers through his hair in soothing motions hindered only a little by my cast. "Now, let us have some dinner."

"Thank you." He said simply, pressing a kiss to my neck and then to my fingers. "I will tell Benny so that she does not go looking for trouble. I hope that you are right and that no blame is placed upon me. I love her as I do my own sister – the thought of her fierce anger turned against me is not something I desire."

"It won't be, love, I promise you that." I chuckled, standing up and coaxing my tormented husband to his feet. "Come on – you always insist on telling me to eat and now I shall do the same. You may face an inquisition with her, and that is something I would not recommend on an empty stomach."

"I would rather not face her at all – I do not wish to stir the dragon within." Elrohir looked so lost then. "I miss him, you know."

"I know, love." I reached up and swept my fingers down the side of his face before cupping his jaw. "Wherever he is, he misses you too."

**xxxXxxx**

Of course, I was right. I was always right when it came to my Mum.

"You could have just told me, you know." She sighed, her head in her hands the following week. Once every few months we had a family dinner with Elrond and Celebrian – mainly so that we actually saw each other in more than just passing. It was an idea of Celebrian's that Mum took to gladly, and the two ladies would spend an evening cooking together as various members of the rest of our strange family milled, talked and drank depending on who was near the city at that time. It so happened on this occasion that Amdiriel was with us, and it was also the night Celebrian, Elrond and Elrohir planned to spring Maglor upon Mum.

The elf in question was entirely too amused by the prospect, Elrohir had advised me, but I still dreaded it a little.

"I know it, but I feared..."

"What, that I'd be angry?" She snorted. "_Someone_ had to send us back. I'm glad it's Elladan and not someone else, in some ways. It does also answer a few questions I had."

"Such as?" Elrohir sat back with raised brows, and Mum rolled her eyes.

"I have a feeling that Elladan is going to become a gentleman called Sam. He's going to look after me for the best part of a year when I leave home and get myself into all sorts of bother."

"Really? You really think Elladan is Sam?" Tori said with raised brows, and J nodded in agreement as she sipped water. "Did you not buy him an inflatable...?"

"Stop speaking now!" Mum cried out, her cheeks flushing bright red. "That never, ever needs repeating. Ever." My Aunts exchanged wicked smirks and I reminded myself to ask them later just what they referred to. I caught Ami's eye from across the table and I knew she was thinking exactly the same – the bright blue pools were filled with mirth even though she remained unusually quiet.

"Did he not also get that huge tattoo?" Tori asked curiously.

"Oh blimey, yes he did." Mum looked faintly amused. "I wonder how long it will last?"

"Dare I ask what a tattoo is?" Amdiriel's voice like chimes sounded finally as she looked both concerned and amused at the antics of her Mother and my own. I leaned back into Elrohir's embrace with a small smile – I could feel his relief in my heart as surely as I felt his joy at speaking about his brother at last.

"It's a picture drawn on your skin, or rather into your skin, with a needle." Mum looked for the best way to describe it, and I grimaced a little as the thought of it.

"You are certain he will return, then?" Celebrian looked hopeful, and I could feel the same hope within my husband's heart too.

"He had the sea tattooed on his back, right down his spine. He said to me at the time he had it to remind him of home. _Home_." She added extra stress to the word, gesturing around from her seat at the table. "I fully expect he will try to make his way here because of that alone."

"Fascinating." Elrond looked both intrigued and a little horrified. "I recall when first you arrived with us, Bernadette. You had those strange adornments that were so alien to us all, and now I hear that my son shall draw on himself permanently in a way that cannot be removed."

"It's only under the first few layers of skin, so I imagine after a few hundred years his skin will shed it completely." Mum reasoned. "I want to document every stage of it." I could see the part of her brain fascinated with physiology begin to whirr and I cleared my throat pointedly – we didn't need her to get into one of her vague rants upon the elven form.

"Perhaps we should change the topic – I am certain you would not wish for her drooling over the idea of experimenting on Elladan our sole discussion for the evening." I said with a slight grin and Amdiriel laughed, her eyes creasing in the corner as happened with all the ladies in our strange family.

"Indeed. I fear my halls seem remarkably silent and I still recall your voice in song once before in Imladris. In honour of those who cannot be with us, shall we perhaps retreat to the music room? It should be well stocked." Elrond stood, gesturing towards the door.

I tried not to grin, Elrohr fought to stifle a laugh, and Father's eyes narrowed at both of us as as Mum stood with a wistful smile. His glance asked us just what we were up to and I dared a wink behind Mum's back, as did Elrohir as he took my hand in his own.

"What are you up to, trouble?" Dad hissed as Celebrian lead Mum away followed by my sisters, an amused Legolas, and a suspicious Glorfindel who had taken Amdiriel's arm with a backwards glance at us.

"It was Elrond's idea." I said promptly, and but for a solitary dark brow risen no other response did the Lord give. "Er, not entirely. He agreed to it." I amended.

"Please tell me you are ready for whatever disaster you are about to cause." Dad pleaded and I looked between the Lord and his son who shared identical looks – somewhere between amusement and slight anxiety.

"Well, we shall see." Elrohir finally said, his fingers squeezing my own.

"Who, pray tell, are you imposing upon her?" Dad dared to ask, and Elrond cleared his throat with his brows still raised.

"Bernadette will meet those inclined to know her whether she likes it or not, but I have come to believe Gil-galad was a step further than she is ready yet to go. Rather, I thought someone of a temperament far more suited to her in her shyness would perhaps be more palatable. I will be with you presently." Elrond bowed to the three of us and we shared far more worried glances then.

"Who does he bring?" Father asked heavily and Elrohir shook his head with a laugh.

"Let us keep the surprise – I would not have Benny sense anything from you. Trust that it will be fine, I am certain of it."

"If you are certain." Dad looked incredibly uncertain as he turned and left the kitchen, and Elrohir and I shared uncertain glances before following.

We walked together through the house to the music room where Mum now sat. Truly it was a library too where books from Elrond's main study had overspilled or otherwise not fitted, and so there were small tables and many a chair to make oneself comfortable. She was at the keyboard, dark hair around her in a halo as she pressed keys with a wide smile like none other I had seen – certainly not in many long years.

J and Tori were leaning against the lid of the instrument with equally light eyes as she played music clearly only they knew, a rapid beat almost like a waltz, but the beats came too quickly for me to count. Amdiriel was twirling under Glorfindel's arm desperately trying to keep up and I spun just once on light feet as I entered before I was captured again by my husband, whose nervousness settled right away in the warm glow of the candles in the room.

"I love you." He murmured, pressing a gentle kiss to my lips before letting himself bask once more in our delightfully odd family. The language in the room had rapidly evolved to English and so I let myself become accustomed to the sound of the tongue as Elrohir did the same. Ami flopped with a delighted giggle onto a settee next to Celebrian, and I saw her explaining the odd word that the Lady was slightly unsure of.

"Oh my God, _please_ tell me you've at least tried to throw together something that sounds like Bohemian Rhapsody. You promised us that in Gondor all that time ago."

"You really need to let that one drop." Mum said drily – the words going over my head a little. "I cannot butcher 20th Century rock in this household." Her fingers strayed over the keys, searching and teasing, until her eyes fluttered closed. "For you, Sam." She seemed to murmur to herself, and then began to play.

It was a piece for the instrument, that was quite clear, and one I had never heard before. It was mesmerising yet the song seemed to cause Dad to pause, and then I saw a smile bloom upon his face as he seemed to recognise it. Her head had dropped forward and I let my eyes close to simply listen. It was simple – or perhaps it was deceptively so. It was a waltz again, but so broken were the chords that they seemed to flow like water around us. J stood now with Glorfindel, one hand at her hip and the other against the gentle swell of her stomach where my littlest cousin now lived, and Tori simply held Legolas' hand with a look of peace upon her face.

The piece seemed to pause, dragging us all forward with it until she moved forward again – deft fingertips caressing the keys and drawing out every possible emotion she could from an audience captivated. I heard footsteps by the door and knew that Elrond would come with the elf he had come to know as a Father, but I was lost in that moment to her song and our plots became somewhat irrelevant then.

Her music had stopped, but I wasn't sure quite when and my breathing had become shallow and even – so at peace I had become. I opened my eyes and dared to look around the room to judge how her piece had been received, and my heart warmed again as I did so. Celebrian's eyes still were closed but her lips were tilted in a half-smile, and I saw my darling cousin had assumed a very similar expression and looked remarkably alike to the Lady. J stood now with Glorfindel, one hand at her hip and the other against the gentle swell of her stomach where my littlest cousin now lived, and Tori simply held Legolas' hand with a look of peace upon her face and her eyes slightly glazed.

Mum seemed to know that we were not ready yet to surface from her music, and so went into another piece that seemed so similar yet slightly different – it's gait slightly more playful, twists and turns of notes against bolder chords and more fixed patterns. It reminded me of Middle Earth – of the mountains and the sea, the plains of Rohan, Minas Tirith, and the great forests of Ithilien. Elrohir must have felt the same, as he held me tighter against him with one arm cradling mine which was in its cast still. It came to an end almost abruptly and so we all held our breath as if upon a precipice before it eased away, taking with it our tension.

"Sorry. Elladan – Sam – introduced me to that man's music and I promised him I'd learn to play the pieces, so I did. I got a bit carried away." She laughed, slightly tearfully. "I'm going to kill him when I see him again."

"You should sing something, Benny." Elrohir proposed when the stillness of the room after her pieces was finally broken. "It has been so long since I last heard you sing."

"I don't know what!" She laughed, her fingers dancing on the keys more playfully than they had before. "I mean, I suppose the twins and I could throw something together..." She mused thoughtfully, eyeing her sisters who shrugged as one. "Oh, I wish Osellë was here. She always has good ideas."

"Elanor has come to visit – you shall not see her face nor Tatharien's now for quite some time if Bellethiel has her way." Ami spoke drily. "I should know – my friend has been quite thoroughly stolen away. It is only right that my Aunt is taken from you too."

"For which we are all eternally grateful. I recall that first time you came to Lothlorien, the lay you sang..." Dad paused, a faint crease appearing between his brows. "I cannot remember the name of it, but I am certain I have heard you sing parts of it since in passing."

Mum laughed, standing; her eyes alight. "God, I can try – it's been years and years since I last sang the full thing. If I remember it all, I deserve a standing ovation! Glorfindel, did it translate to Sindarin very well?"

"It did, Benny, though most of us here would understand the original." Glorfindel glanced at Celebrian, who nodded her agreement. Amdiriel had taken a seat beside her and I wondered if we'd ever sung this lay for her – I may have sung it to her in her infancy but certainly not in her adult years.

"I know your tongue well enough now to stumble my way through, but I think at least the first time I would prefer to know it in a clearer language." I noted her eyes darted slightly to the doorway where I assumed Elrond and Maglor were together.

"As would I – I am uncertain of the song you speak of so I would prefer to hear it in Sindarin over English at first." Amdiriel agreed, watching my eyes dart towards the door and glancing that way herself briefly before she shrugged.

"Fair enough." Mum smiled and searched the room for an instrument she could use. "A-ha! Harp." She removed its coverings and carefully rolled it forward, and I felt a little giddiness. "I'm so sorry in advance for butchering this."

I loved when she sang – I always had and I always would. She pulled her hair back in a loose braid to keep it from her face and then looked up to me, gesturing me forward. "Could you add the flute part? I have a funny feeling you know it." She began to play the lilting pattern upon the harp and I felt a flurry of pleasure in my stomach.

"Oh, I adore this song. So sad, but so beautiful." I said wistfully, and then looked down at my cast with a frown. "I know not that I will be of any use to you."

"You should still be able to play with a cast on – I did it myself once in Lothlorien, and my cast was a mite less graceful than that one is." She winked and I flushed a little, taking the flute she passed me from a nearby table.

I made sure the two instruments tuned to each other and nodded, catching Elrohir's eye – he didn't often get to see me play and I could feel his own happiness in the moment as keenly as my own. "This is a song most here have already heard – and insulted me over once before. We'll gloss over that, won't we Haldir?" Mum raised her brows at Dad who did the same right back at her, folding his arms slightly defensively as I chuckled. "And _some _of us sang it obsessively for ten years straight." She turned her gaze pointedly to me.

"You say this as if it were a terrible thing. Now start, for goodness' sake!" I waved the silver flute threateningly.

"Fine! If I remember all the verses I deserve a medal. It was, or rather will be, a poem set to music. I... I'll let it tell its own story." She looked to me and with a nod she began the harp part again. I closed my eyes briefly, finding the melody which countered her own, and let the ancient story unfold before us. I let my eyes flutter open again – both my Aunts stared toward the door with wary expressions but Mum seemed not to notice our quiet intruder.

His hair was dark, almost as dark as hers, and his head was cocked to one side as he listened to her words. She sang as she had promised in the language of our own people and not the one of the future. Glorfindel turned his head briefly and nodded in welcome, but was not distracted for long as our song captured him again. Ami beside him looked a little confused – perhaps she had not yet met Maglor, but I was certain she would have heard of him at least in passing from the Lady and being in Elrond's household, she must have been able to put the facts together.

Our guest's eyes became fixed upon Mum as she played, her brows knitted as she came to the turning point of the song. His stance suggested curiosity, grey eyes like Elrond's despite that they were unrelated, but quiet he remained as all others did whilst we played.

"_She left the web, she left the loom;  
She took three paces through the room;  
__She saw the water-lily bloom,  
__She saw the helmet and the plume,  
__She looked down to Camelot.  
__Out flew the web and floated wide;  
__The mirror cracked from side to side;  
_'_The curse has come upon me,' cried  
__The lady of Shalott."_

Still she sang, Mum not only finding the words I knew she feared she had lost but owning them completely. She performed, truly performed when she sang – I one day wished for her to sing all of the histories of the world just to hear her voice tell our tales. I had fallen a little in love with the knight of the tale when I was younger; imagined my own brave yet beautiful warrior with dark hair and bright eyes, and as I caught my husband's storm-cloud gaze I knew that I had found him.

"_Who is this? And what is here?__  
__And in the lighted palace near__  
__Died the sound of royal cheer;__  
__And they crossed themselves for fear,__  
__All the Knights at Camelot.__  
__But Lancelot mused a little space_  
_He said, 'She has a lovely face;__  
__God in his mercy lend her grace,__  
__The Lady of Shalott.'"_

Together we finished, our eyes meeting over the harp with equal smiles as a ripple of applause greeted us – not least of all from the dark-haired elf who yet still remained otherwise silent.

"That was a poem once, wasn't it?" Aunty J asked, and Mum nodded.

"Tennyson – or it will be, anyway. I adore the legends of Camelot." She looked at remarkable peace then, and I was suddenly loathe to break it.

"Is the tale a true one?"

I felt my heart stop and butterflies ravaged my stomach as Maglor spoke for the first time – his voice as smooth and as hypnotic as it had been the first time I met him. Mum's head snapped up, eyes narrowed as she sought out the face of the one who spoke before her head tilted questioningly and her cheeks flushed a little with embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I didn't spot you before. I didn't mean to disturb you."

"I passed by in the corridor beyond and I heard a voice in song that drew me forth – you did not disturb me, my Lady. Now what say you? Is the tale a true one?" Dressed in a simple deep blue tunic and dark breeches he stepped forward with his eyes meeting her own as directly as he dared. Not for the first time I wondered what Mum would have been like had she not been so shunned as she was in the first hundred years of her time in Aman. I had heard tell of how she had been in Mirkwood but I had never truly seen such a lady come to the light from the depths of her soul.

"If you had asked me that question seven hundred years ago, I would have said no outright. Now, truly, I'm not so certain." Her words were measured, but I flicked my eyes to Dad who looked as if he stood upon the edge of a knife and was prepared to whisk her away at any sign of distress.

"Your world was turned upon its head, was it not? I seem to recall your face – perhaps I saw you in passing before within this house." His voice remained quiet and thoughtful still, his eyes straying just a little to see that she still sat somewhat stiffly at the harp.

"It was." Mum answered frankly. "I do not know what was truth and what was fantasy in that life anymore."

"Most tales come from truth; all myths and legends have a root that can be traced. Be it thorough poetry, through song, or through whispered tales to children before they are claimed by the night we tell our past to future generations. They carry that torch forth, but over time it may warp and distort."

Mum grinned then and I felt my stiffness ebb. "Well, on that we can agree. Still, whilst I wouldn't pin the song to be a true one it _is_ lovely, nonetheless."

"That it is, my Lady...?" He reached out to offer his hand and she took it cautiously, standing and then dropping into a slight curtsey. Before me she transformed and it was so strange to watch her – clearly, the lady who had once graced the courts of Mirkwood was now in our presence and Legolas seemed to note it. His eyes watched as if in a memory, and he spoke words to Tori then that I couldn't quite hear who nodded in agreement to whatever he had said.

"Aerlinn was my very first name, but you will hear everyone here call me Bernadette and you're welcome to do the same. It has been a long time since anyone called me by my first name, my Lord...?" Mum prompted the introduction, her eyes a little narrowed still.

"Maglor, Lady Bernadette, at your service." His head bowed but I could see him look up at her through sooty lashes and her whole body froze.

She closed her eyes, clasping her hands before her as her breathing became a little shallow and a furious flush claimed her face and neck. Maglor looked unsure now of the plot he had helped to form, poised to grab her if she bolted, but then her eyes fluttered open and the smallest of smiles teased her lips. "Of course you are." She spoke drily and he laughed a little.

"You are a singularly troublesome woman to pin down, Lady Bernadette. Such plots and ploys would not be necessary if you would but meet those who seek to know you... and to thank you." He spoke sincerely then, taking her hand in his.

"Why on earth would you want to thank me?" Her stance was awkward, but her words were even more so as she stuttered her way through.

"Your strength is as legendary as that of the Ring-bearer, Frodo Baggins, and not only did Middle Earth you keep within your heart but the realm of Aman too. Sauron The Deceiver sought knowledge you had and yet despite torture and torment that lesser elves would have succumbed to, you kept all hidden until safety bound you."

"I tried very, very hard to avoid that particular fate." Mum pointed out, crossing her arms about her to protect herself from the onslaught. Maglor looked a little confused by her words, and I could see him searching for a response before he found that which he sought.

"Truly, I understand why you may consider it that way. From the tales I have heard from your daughter you welcomed death not once but twice to keep all our people safe, and even when fate ensured you would meet our Enemy you bore it until the very end. Not many of our kindred would so willingly welcome death."

"I was a coward, and ended up having no choice." She argued, and Maglor seemed to find some great humour in her words.

"I know cowards, my Lady, and I know a little something about choice. I shall assure you now that coward is not a name one would ever hope to call you. Ai, you are a stubborn creature!"

"I bet you know a little something about that, too." The words escaped Mum's mouth before she had clearly thought them through, her mind catching up just as she finished the sentence. "Bollocks. Oh, sodding..." she covered her mouth with her fist, biting into the flesh with an expression of horror. I felt my breath catch and I winced – Mum was an honest woman, and so was graced with the tongue of an honest woman. The Lady of the court had come and gone, it seemed. Elrohir instead looked rather amused and I frowned at him, causing only a further quiet chuckle which Legolas, Glorfindel, and even my Father seemed to share.

Maglor's brows rose towards the thick dark hair that was so loosely bound about him casually. "Now, there is an interesting thing. Most Ladies would not dream to know curses such as those."

Mum hesitantly removed her fist from her mouth, stretching our her fingers where they had before been so tightly clenched. Her chin seemed to tilt a little, noting the daring tone in the other elf's voice. "I'm not most ladies." She told him firmly and in such a way that the fact her nature would not change was heavily impressed upon him. Finally a full smile broke across the elf-Lord's face as he reached out to clasp her arm in a more personal greeting which she returned with surprising fire.

"Aye, I can see that, my Lady. At long last I welcome you, if you would accept it." Maglor was the one to be unsure and hesitant, and I saw Mum use her free hand to cover his which grasped her arm, offering a gentle squeeze. Her heart - her wonderful, all-encompassing, ever-accepting heart reached out as I had trusted it would, as clearly Elrond and Elrohir hoped it would as I felt an overwhelming tidal wave of relief flow from my husband straight to my chest.

Her eyes travelled up from their joined arms and hands upwards again, meeting his eyes with such a look of acceptance as always came from her. "I'm so sorry. It can't have been easy, all this time."

"Nothing worth fighting for is ever truly easy."

Mum's lips lifted slightly in the corners at the same time as his did. "Not everything is worth fighting for, easy or not."

"No truer words were ever spoken, Lady Bernadette." His expression mirrored her own – self-deprecating humour at what had been, and what was yet to come.

"Are you alone?" The words seemed to tumble from her mouth and she seemed to cringe away. "I'm sorry, that was..." she began, but Maglor raised his free hand, waving her apology away.

"A fair question it is. For now my Lady Bernadette, I walk Aman alone in the shadows and with precious few comforts. If any of my kin remain or have come to be re-embodied in Aman they have not made themselves known to me, and perhaps it shall be so evermore." His eyes seemed to age several millennia in but a second; I saw then the lone son of a house that was once great now ever an outcast, and ever fearing that he would never be accepted again.

Her hand gave another squeeze and finally she seemed to fully relax, her warmth radiating once more where before it had been muted. Two mirrored individuals, each with their own tale, at last met in a room of family who watched on as their kindred spirits rose to the occasion. An elf tied to the past and an elf tied to the future collided and from the corner of my eye I saw both Celebrian and Amdiriel brush away tears.

"Not any longer, do you understand me? Not any longer. And Maglor?" Her voice was firm and I knew right away in my heart that she had decided upon taking him into our ever-growing family. "Benny. My family, as strange as they are, call me Benny."

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**Reviews, as always are sincerely and genuinely appreciated.**


	10. Litawen at One Thousand and Twenty Five

**Hi everyone! **

**I'm so sorry for the delay in this chapter. I've had a busy week – my work summer party, and then the glory that is a 2-day migraine. I do not wish that on my very worst enemy. **

**Fun fact of the day – Tolkien was born near where I live. There's a road called Tolkien Way and everything. I was listening to a video of him speaking Quenya and I swear I heard a Potteries twang, though I myself am Yorkshire born and Yorkshire bred... strong in't arm and thick in't head (or good in't bed, depending on how fruity you like your stereotypes)!**

**To make up for my atrocious lack of updates, have a monster! This chapter crosses a fairly large time-frame, so ranges from Litawen at 600 to around 1025.**

**I'd just like to take a moment to say thank you for all the amazing reviews, and I hope you enjoy this one too. I try to respond to you all one to one, but sod's law I'll miss someone accidentally so **_**thank you**_**, you bloody awesome lot. **

**Lots of love, **

**MM -x**

* * *

Over a little more than an hour tension in the room seemed to ease, normal conversation flowing once more between the parties involved despite how awkwardly at first it had seemed. Mum had blushed and stuttered a little until both Tori and J had forced her into submission in what I was certain was a comedy routine. Finishing one another's sentences, one line joke after joke, and winding each other up so completely until J held her stomach with tears upon her cheeks and both my Uncles were rolling their eyes.

"I do have one question." Her tone was light but I saw Dad flinch, and I tried very hard not to mimic his expression as I contemplated what it was Mum thought and felt. He always had sensed her far more keenly than in a normal marriage, even than between my Aunts and their husbands, and so now I dreaded the question that would come next. "Whose idea was this little... encounter?"

"That would be mine." Maglor smiled; a full and charming expression that had her nose wrinkling as she debated what to do next – clearly she had thought the idea was not his.

"Ah. In that case, who agreed to it?"

Elrond, Celebrian and Elrohir all raised their hands together, Elrohir far more warily than his Father and Mother did. Mum's eyes fixed on my husband, narrowed for a moment as she scrutinised him, and then she turned her glare upon his parents in turn. The look was as black as the night and every single person it was directed at seemed to take a step backwards from it – the dragon had stirred, it seemed, and I was keen to be out of the path of its fire.

"Ooooh, she's channelling Thranduil. You're in _so _much trouble." Tori said with far too much glee.

"Oh Valar, but she is at that. Benny, you have spent too much time around my Father of late." Legolas reached out to pull my Aunt closer. "Ah, now, see how her eyes survey with little movement but for the angle of her chin?"

"I happen to _like_ Thranduil, and well you know it." She tried to protest, earning only a snort.

"Sometimes, I wonder that you are the only one. You are one of the very few he likes in return; oft I have wondered what my Mother does see in him but even she has not the patience for his moods as you do." Legolas said, drily enough to generate an awkward laugh.

"Hey now, I was just saying..."

"Mum, do desist. No-one meant you any harm. I wish you had a little more faith in your own worth." I dared to say timidly, coming to stand behind her and wrapping my arms around her waist in a gesture of comfort that we had shared for many seasons. She tensed a little, but then eased back into my embrace as I pleaded with my eyes for Maglor go and speak to someone else for a moment, which he did with only an understanding nod. He bowed his head to her and she did the same before we had as private a moment as we could manage in a family such as our own.

"I love you, Mummy, now please calm down. You build things up in your mind to make them worse than they are. We are your family, not a threat." I spoke quietly in English in her ear.

"I don't like being manipulated." She answered back, her eyes still fixed on the elf who moved with ease and spoke confidently with all those in the room. He introduced himself to my Aunts, Amdiriel, and then my Dad whose eyes occasionally darted to us as he explained the mystery that was my Mum. Their shared laughter seemed to ease my soul but only served to exacerbate the stress of the lady in my arms.

"You aren't giving us much choice." I turned her so that she faced me instead of over-analysing each and every interaction. She looked a little guilty then, her green eyes downcast, and I hugged her to me again.

"It's so hard, Lita. These are... I can't explain. I still sometimes forget that this world is real, that it isn't the fantasy it was in my childhood. Seven hundred years later and I still can't shake that."

Ha – there it was at last. "I know it, but those people are now very real and right here before you. You cannot close yourself off from a life that would have you fully, whether you like it or not." I pressed a kiss to her cheek and stood back. "He's not too bad, you know." I nodded my head in the direction of the elf that was now in some in-depth conversation with Dad on whatever topic they had launched into, gesturing and nodding with ease.

"I know, but it was just so unexpected. If I look like I'm about to put my foot in my mouth again let me know, trouble. Did you honestly know about this?" She asked me, and I chewed the inside of my cheek for a brief moment before nodding shyly.

"I knew that they were going to, but I was not sure as to when until this evening. I'm sorry if it has caused any hurt." I said sincerely, and she rolled her eyes and laughed then, her lips touching my forehead in the same comforting gesture she had used since I was a babe.

"I know, trouble. How long do you think it will be before we terrify him?" She looked at her sisters who both shared equally devious expressions.

"And you call me trouble! That said, I fear it would take a rather large dose of your hijinks to stir any sort of reaction." I said fondly, stroking her dark waves until they were free from the loose bindings once more. My broken wrist remained yet cast, and needed to be recast once the swelling had subsided, but I had rather more freedom than in the older, thicker splints of my childhood.

"We'll see, and again I say – Bohemian Rhapsody." J answered and Mum finally appeared to give in to the demand that I didn't understand – the words were both familiar and unfamiliar to me in that I knew them, but not to what they referred.

"Okay, so I totally had Mum teach me it years and years ago but... it isn't exactly Elven, is it?" She looked vaguely amused as she disentangled herself from my embrace. I snapped my fingers, finally recalling where I had heard the phrase before.

"Ah, the elusive tune I have heard tell of, yet you have never performed it." I stated thoughtfully as she sat again at the instrument she insisted upon calling a piano and playing a few notes. I leaned upon the lid with both of my Aunts coming to stand beside me, and Tori took a sip of her wine with a grin.

"You've never heard anything like it." She promised me. "You've probably never heard your Mum sing like it, either."

"Wait, what? I thought I was just playing it." Mum protested, the notes jarring a little as she played something too quickly for me to truly hear.

"Your range is better, and you need more than two voices. We can sing the harmonies!" J looked far too pleased by the prospect and I saw Mum's eyes flick towards Dad nervously.

"If this all goes wrong, I'm holding you two completely responsible."

"You wanted to push the limits. Didn't Haldir like you singing this way?" Tori asked pointedly, and Mum's dark head bobbed in agreement. "I remember you said about that time in Gondor..." Mum waved a hand in front of her face in acquiescence.

"Fine, fine! Jesus, I've already said yes. This is a song from my past, Lita, but it's a time yet to come. It will sound all kinds of strange." She cleared her throat then quietly, and played a chord before meeting the eyes of her sisters in turn.

"_Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality. Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see..._"

I was astonished. Astonished, baffled, and a little awed at the little scene that unfolded before us. I had often heard my family sing together – a little less recently as my Grandparents had gone to stay with other family of their own for a time – but never like this. Mum, her sisters... they sounded _raw_ and full of a fierce energy. I listened to the words – it seemed to be a tale of a man condemned but I could not be entirely sure.

Ami came to stand beside me, her head tilted and her expression one of fascination as their harmonies weaved and jarred. Dad wore a slightly fleeting smile as his eyes danced across the room before returning back to his discussion with Glorfindel and Maglor – the latter elf pausing and turning his head curiously once more as he listened.

"_So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye? So you think you can love me and leave me to die?" _It was more like a shout now, and I felt a slight laugh in my throat as I was granted just a glimpse of the woman she had been as a mortal. Together they finished in a quieter phrase, wistful and dreamlike, and then Aunty Tori gave a whoop and reached out in that high-five gesture I had myself partaken in many times.

"That was so fun." J looked so remarkably pleased with herself for having broken my Mum down at last into singing from the future once again. "Oh, hello little one! Did you like that, hmm?" She asked her stomach. "Glorfindel, I think we have serious trouble incoming."

"What in the name of all that is good was that?" Lord Elrond looked quite genuinely shocked by the endeavour, and J stifled a giggle as she tried not to laugh outright at my equally perplexed Uncle.

"One would assume it was music yet to be written, and yet to be performed. Tell me, do you have a store of such songs and other pieces? I am certain there is much we can glean from these styles which otherwise would never reach these shores." Maglor had a light in his eyes I'd not seen before, and it came as a little of a shock he would be quite so accepting.

Mum looked at him with raised brows. "Really now?"

"I have already had an idea." He looked around, and then dragged a chair from a corner to sit next to Mum with a slight crease between his brows. "The part that interested me was the third of the four, before the reprise of the first theme. The sharpness intrigued me."

"I know, right? It's... crunchy. It's full of texture."

"An excellent descriptor. Imagine if it were slowed, if you change the key to a diminished... No, perhaps raise that but one step to create a little less of a jar." He gestured to the keys for her to play and she did so with drawn brows, before I heard her delighted and exhilarated cry.

"_Yes_!"

"Aaaaaand she's gone." J muttered as Mum began playing again, showing the chord shapes for Maglor to follow. "You'll regret this. Meddling with Benny ends up with her marrying _him_, and then her friendship with Osellë." My Aunt pointed to Dad with raised brows, and he looked mildly offended before the truth of the matter dawned on him completely. He cursed under his breath as Glorfindel patted his shoulder, and I shared a humoured look with Ami.

"... Damnation, she is correct. Once more, I think I have lost my wife to her madness." Dad sighed, rubbing his face with one hand.

"Just you wait until he hears her and Osellë get started. If that doesn't send him running, nothing will." J leaned against Uncle Glorfindel, his arm protecting the gentle swell of her abdomen.

"If the Valar have any humour about them, he shall join in and what little peace we have found will be utterly ruined forever." Dad spoke with a grumble.

"Ah, do not fret." Amdiriel leaned against me with her arm about my waist again, and I assumed the same position as Tori darted away to explain Mum's music to Elrond, Celebrian and my perplexed husband in turn. "I am certain they shall settle and become bored soon enough!" She said cheerfully.

Legolas, Glorfindel, J and Dad shared a measured look and then sighed as one. "...Will they not?" Ami looked doubtful then and I stated incredulously at my cousin.

"You have been away far too long, darling." I gave her a squeeze out of pity. "Mum never settles. I doubt she knows the meaning of the word."

**xxxXxxx**

"Litawen, have you seen Benny? Your Father, Grandfather, and Maglor have been looking for her all morning – we're worried about her."

I looked up from my text, a feeling of dread in the very pit of my stomach as I dipped my quill back into the pot of ink. "Come in, Grandmother." I gestured with one hand for the fair-headed elf to enter our little home, placing the tip of the quill down once more and copying the intricate letter-work. I had taken it upon myself to re-write some of the books that had been in our family for the last thousand or so years, improving them where I could. Some texts spread more widely were now made with presses, but as these were so personal I felt that they deserved the care and love that could only come from those of us who knew their meaning.

That afternoon I rewrote and edited the book of poetry and songs Mum had scribbled feverishly in Rivendell – some only in a light ink so they were now fading rather rapidly. It was quite the project, but I found it rather soothing and I could not wait until I could give it to her as a gift. I finished the intricate first letter with a flourish and then moved on to a series of simple letters as I spoke.

"She went for a run with Osellë in the young hours of the morning, and I suspect now she has gone into the mountains with Elrohir. Today is a difficult day for her – for both of them, as they remember Arwen." I said carefully, trying not to let the twinge of sadness affect the steadiness of my hand. "After, I suspect they shall spend a little time with Elrond and Celebrian."

Today marked one thousand years exactly since the passing of Queen Arwen. The years had flown in but a blink of an eye, but both my husband and my Mother struggled with the weight of missing her and in turn, missing Elladan who yet remained in Middle Earth watching and waiting. I had insisted they go together and sit with Gimli for a little while and Elrohir had agreed with only a light kiss to my temple, his fingers lightly grazing my cheek as he stared into my eyes. I felt his love and his sadness all in one fell swoop as it ravaged my heart, and so to distract myself I had turned once more to my writing project whilst he was away.

"Oh, damn." Grandmother winced and I looked up once more, my brows creasing. "Damn, damn, I didn't realise that it was today. I knew something was coming – we all knew, she can't really hide it, but I didn't think it would be so soon. I'll have to let them all know."

"Why, Grandmother?" I asked, placing the quill down and standing. "Would you like some tea?"

"Please, and thank you darling. Oh, it was nothing in truth. She's been more receptive of late to the idea of meeting a few others – some four hundred years after Maglor, but there you go." Her words were slightly dry and I felt a fleeting smile tease my lips. "We were hoping to introduce her to the latest in our band of merry misfits – Maglor's brother, recently returned."

I giggled a little at her phrasing, but then paused. "... Which one?" She blinked once or twice as if she didn't quite know what it was I was asking. I stared at her as if she was perhaps touched in the head whilst I poured steaming water over fresh mint leaves.

"The one he was at least speaking to." Grandmother snorted as I passed her a mug of fresh tea. "Maedhros."

I frowned, trying to remember which of the seven that brother was. "Oh! The one who was hung by his..."

"Yes, that one, though you'll be pleased to know the affliction didn't return when he came back to us. I think Benny will either like him or kill him – it could go either way, depending on if he chooses to wind her up. Or so Maglor thinks, anyway."

"I am glad for him. I so hated that he was bound to walk alone upon these shores, and it warms my heart that the Valar finally seek to forgive them at last." I said with feeling. "I cannot imagine what it would be to walk this world without my brothers, much as they infuriate me sometimes"

"Not all, and whilst the Valar may forgive them our people are not so kind." She leaned over the counter with her mug in her hands thoughtfully. "I love my daughter, truly I do, but sometimes I wonder about her judgement."

"Please, do not. She knows precisely what she is doing and who it is she allows into her heart and family." I reached out and took one of her hands. "Introduce me first, if you would like – let me test the waters. If he does not run from my worst, then he should be able to remain in Mum's company at least for a while. Though I would perhaps keep she and Osellë separated in his company until he is truly prepared for such."

Grandmother laughed, her green eyes so like my Mum's shining. "I might do just that. He happened across both Callon and Gelluion whilst they hunted with Maglor and Haldir. Your Father, of course, took it in his stride as he always does. I think the twins rather liked him."

"Yes, and then he proceeds to have a fit of hysteria as soon as all others have gone." I said fondly, thinking of the man who had raised me with the warmth in my heart that I always had. "And of course, the twins quite like everyone! I do not think that they have a truly hateful bone between them. Ah, but they are all rather strange men."

"To being strange – not a single one of us are any better." She raised her mug and I touched my own to hers with an amused nod – she seemed to know just how to raise my spirits when I was feeling low, as my Mother and Father did; as _all_ my family did.

"True, that is true enough. To being strange!" I laughed. "Speaking of strange; have you seen my brothers? We were supposed to go for wine this evening and enjoy a little time together."

"They're shooting with Thúlië so far as I know."

"There is bravery, and then there is bravery." I grimaced. Thúlië was Glorfindel and J's second child, and she was even more of a handful than my brothers. She was truly like the wind, whipping through and creating a whirl about before passing on leaving only tousled, exhausted elves in her wake. Amdiriel and I had long since given up on trying to pin her down and instead ran wild with her before letting her pass on. It had reminded me of my younger years, fresh in the woods of Aman, and so I let myself enjoy her madness.

"I believe they are trying to wear her out." Her words were wry and I rolled my eyes.

"That woman cannot be worn out, Grandmother." I said fondly, putting my mug down. "It does seem that they are being released from the halls one brother at a time. I wonder if the Valar are testing the waters to see what befalls them?"

"Perhaps, perhaps." She put her own mug down and took my hands in hers. "Do not fret about tonight – enjoy some time with your brothers, and I shall explain as best I can why Benny is unavailable. Ah, I bloody wish she would tell us these things instead of remaining so stubbornly silent!"

"Hmm – I doubt it would ever happen, somehow. By the by, should you happen across him tell Dad to come and find us. You know what he's like when Mum gets like this." I gestured vaguely with a small sigh.

"He'll fuss, I know." Grandmother stood straight, stretching her arms hight above her. "She'll turn to him when she's ready – she always does. I'll tell him to find you; will you be at the ranges?"

"I shall, or we will head out to town along the beach. If any wish to accompany us they will be more than welcome!"

"I'll pass the message on." She reached out and pulled me around the counter into an embrace – Grandma Aurae, as I had called her in my youth, was the wise and comforting presence I sometimes craved and she knew the value of silence as well as the value of breaking it. I didn't see her now as often as I had, for they stayed more often than not with Thranduil over the mountains and Mum had long since moved into the house they once occupied.

"Gaelin misses you – you should come and stay with us over the mountains for a while. I know Thranduil would enjoy a little time with you and Benny, and so would the Lady if you venture out to the great gardens from time to time. Amdiriel and Elanor could show you around." She patted my cheek as she stood back and I nodded thoughtfully.

"I believe I shall, when next you go that way once more."

"Excellent!" She looked pleased, and I gave her a final hug before finding the bow and arrows I so adored, slinging them around me with practised ease. "I'll send your Father and Rumil your way, then. God knows where Osellë and Orophin are."

"Worrying about Mum, no doubt. No, bother to it all – everyone will come out tonight. We shall go to the tavern by the square and have a night together as a family. Find everyone and let them know. It has been far too long since we were all in town together and we should not miss an opportunity."

I felt my heart race at the idea; Tatharien, Thúlië and Amdiriel who I loved as sisters, Glorfindel and J, Legolas and Tori. My darling brothers, my Father and Rumil, Osellë and Orophin. With Elanor and my Grandparents who I now so rarely had the chance to truly spend time with, we would be a family full of love together again at last.

"What about Maedhros and Maglor?" Grandmother asked cautiously.

I paused, pursing my lips as I remembered my younger years and how the vile gossips had made me feel. Though they were thousands upon thousands of years older with more wisdom upon their brows than I could ever hope to understand, I knew that there was little truly worse upon these shores than the cruel words whispered in the dark. The looks as black as the night, the barely veiled disgust, and a desire simply to be left in peace that was ever stolen away.

"Well, they can make that decision for themselves. As you said, we are a merry band of misfits indeed but we are a band that loves each other with our entire beings." I stopped by the door, my hand resting on the frame as I turned back. "Though I would have them know this - they will _always_ be welcome."

The words rang still in my ears as I strolled to the range, and a little distance away I climbed up through the trees and leapt silently from branch to branch – my accuracy as deadly as it was when I hunted. I came closer and closer to the ranges until I came to rest close to where they were truthfully playing more than having any serious lesson.

I watched from my position in the tree, faintly amused as Thúlië dashed from pillar to post as both Callon and Gelluion tried to hit the target she held high above her head. So far, only Gel was hitting the mark with any notion of success and even then it was rather truly hit-and-miss. I notched an arrow as she darted again, drawing back the bowstring, and as she finally came to pause for but a moment I let it fly. I gave a nod as it landed cleanly in the centre, and then as she jumped up and spun away again I let loose the second. I watched with pleasure as it split my first and she held the target in front of her with a light frown.

"Now, what is this?" Her back was turned away from me, just under the branch where I stood, and an idea took me along with a naughty smile. I sat and hooked my knees about the branch before swinging down backwards so that my head was level by hers, upside-down behind her.

"Boo!" I whispered in her ear as I let my bow fall to the floor for safety. She jumped forward, shrieking before pulling me down and tackling me to the floor. I pinned her arms firmly beneath me, amused that still after four hundred years she still seemed more like a child than a grown woman. "You cannot best me, little demon!"

"Ai, Lita, let me up." She struggled and I sat back with a grin, my hair a wild halo about me as she brushed herself off. "Oh, how I've missed you, my biggest cousin!" She exclaimed, reaching out to hug me.

"You have seen me only a few seasons ago, lovely one!" I teased her, reaching out to brush her fair locks from her face. Of all our cousins we looked the most alike in our features, but for her hair which maintained some sort of order in waves rather than riotous curls in a similar golden shade.

"Ah, but it is far too long still. Why are you here, Litawen?"

I looked up at my brothers from the floor and they shrugged. "Mum and Elrohir are having a difficult day today. It is a thousand years since Queen Arwen passed and the feel the loss still keenly."

"I imagine so. Oh, poor Benny." Thúlië fretted. I sat back with my legs crossed, my twin brothers flanking us at either side so that we formed a small circle. "And how fares Elrohir? I mean, he must be missing his brother too."

"He is. It will do them good to talk it all out together for they do share many memories together. It is always best for Mum to talk these things through before they blacken her heart and overwhelm her so completely."

"What she of course declines to say is that Elrorir is an excellent healer, and if Mum starts to throw a fit then he can ensure she rests." Callon supplied helpfully and both Thúlië and I reached out to flick his arm at the same time.

"Do not be crass." She scolded. "I do hope she is well. She is essential to the happiness of so many in our family, and I confess Mum and Dad worry for her sometimes."

"We will worry for many long years yet." Gel said quietly, drawing his knees up. "Only when Elladan returns and the enchantment is truly gone from her soul do we have any hope of the darkness that sometimes takes her finally receding. Even then, she has been through so much..."

We looked at each other for a while, and then I brushed an errant tear away from my face with a huff. "Oh, now this is far too maudlin for my liking! Now, let us have a little fun whilst we still have some light and then afterwards we shall all go into town and get marvellously drunk." I stood, pulling Thúlië to her feet and handing her the target, picking up my bow. "I asked Grandma Aurae to gather everyone."

"Fantastic! Now, do show your sorry brothers just how this is done."

Thúlië winked at me, and with a flash of a grin she shot off. "You heard her boys; do try to keep up!" I taunted them, beckoning with one finger as they both glared darkly, before I shot off into the trees.

For a little while I could hear their steps, but soon they became nothing to me as I stalked my prey. From high in the trees it was easier still, and I spotted the brightly painted target just a little before me. Thúlië and I had played this game when she was a child; she had little patience for swordplay or the bow but enjoyed the game of hiding and seeking, so we found ways to include her. So light on her feet was she that she made a perfect target, and soon she had a whole myriad of tricks and clever ruses to keep us upon our toes.

"Ha!" I hissed under my breath and without any further hesitation my arrow sought its mark. I felt a flutter and then the whip of an arrow by my cheek and a second landed only a hairsbreadth from my own. I turned to look behind me and saw Dad crouched, hidden in the leaves but for the quicksilver of his eyes. I gestured to him and he landed silently beside me, expression slightly tense.

"Are you well?" I kissed his cheek and his free hand came to ruffle my hair.

"I am, daughter, though I fear I am suddenly rather bested by my own child!" He said, a slight line between his brows as he frowned. "What a sorry state of affairs it is."

I nudged him playfully before spotting that Thúlië was on the move again. "Well then, how about a wager?"

"Not a single one of you can resist." Dad said drily, but I saw him pluck at the string of his bow thoughtfully. "The first to 10 arrows wins, and the loser must the victor wine all evening at your little get-together."

"You're coming then? Excellent – I hoped Grandma Aurae would find you. Alright then, a wager it is." I offered my hand and he shook it once, his eyes lighting again, but he barely had time to register it before I dropped to the forest floor. "I hope you have enough money spare, Daddy-dear." I called up with as much of a smirk as he could muster.

"I would not be so sure on your victory!" I heard him call after me as I sprang off in chase of Thúlië, a joyful cry upon my lips.

**xxxXxxx**

"Another bottle for myself and Thúlië I think." I raised my empty glass and Dad rolled his eyes, standing from the table where our party had amassed. Mum and Elrohir were still conspicuously absent, but we were determined to celebrate those who lived as well as those who were no longer with us.

Our evening had begun with a quiet toast to Arwen, Aragorn, and to Gimli too. So far it was our family – those directly related to us by blood or marriage – and it was a truly wonderful time as we all sat together. Even my Grandparents on my Father's side had joined us with curious expressions for a little while, before rolling their eyes fondly and leaving us to our boisterous antics.

"Twist, for goodness sake Litawen!" I turned back to Ami, Tath and Thúlië, dealing the cards with a slight blush. "Oh but you should have seen it, Lita veritably wiped the floor with poor Haldir."

"Oh, I think not! I was lucky."

"Shut up, Lita." Cal said fondly, kissing my cheek as he stood to go to the bar. "I shall arrange this round – who would like what?" He took orders as I dealt the next hand, looking at Tath who was considering her cards.

"Stick." She looked to Ami who nodded with slightly narrowed eyes.

"...Twist?" Thúlië asked, almost hesitantly and I raised a brow as I presented the card to her. "Ha!" She placed her cards down with an exaggerated flourish. "Twenty-one."

"Damnation, you are the luckiest woman alive." Amdiriel glared slightly at her sister, before she snapped her fingers as an idea came to her. "You should dance, my wildling. Mum would love to see you."

"I have not brought my shoes." She complained.

"Then go get them. I swear, you make everything such a drama my darling." I teased and she stood, her light dress swirling about her. "Bring some for Aunty J too – I know Glorfindel adores it so when she dances." I let my eyes wander to where they sat together with Rumil, Orophin, Legolas and Míresgalon, my once suitor and now Tatharien's love. They were finally to wed in the spring and it promised to be a joyous celebration.

"So, have you and Elrohir spoken of children yet?" Osellë asked me, Aunty Tori coming to sit by my other side. I shook my head, laughing as Thúlië span once in the middle of the floor before heading to the door.

"We still feel that the time is not quite right." I said with only a little blush.

"When the time is right, you'll know. There's no rush." Tori promised me. "Anyway, being childless is totally fun..." She began but stopped as we saw Thúlië run straight in to an elf wearing a deep blue cloak, the hood drawn to fight off the slight chill and dampness of the autumn air. She stumbled backwards but the tall elf caught her easily, lifting her small frame so that she stood straight again.

"Oh, I'm _so_ sorry." She bowed her head in a light curtsey which came so naturally to her. "I am not usually so clumsy; thank you." She offered the still-hooded elf an endearing and slightly bashful smile before stepping back and out of the door, her eyes lingering only a moment before she was gone.

"Ten coins say whoever that is, she's got quite the fancy for them." Ami whispered and I giggled.

"No, you know our Thúlië – she accidentally flirts with anyone, male or female. I think it was entirely unintended." I assured her, but both Tatharien and my Aunts looked unconvinced.

"Hmm, we'll see." Tori watched the door where her niece had left with a smirk before her expression lightened into one of welcoming. "Hey, Maglor! Over here!" She called above the din and the dark-haired elf I had come to adopt as another Uncle, and he waved her off with a smile.

"But a moment, Victoria!"

"Tori!" She shouted back and then sat down again. "One day, I swear down, he will learn to use my real name. Anyway, pass us those cards and I'll deal."

A few minutes later Dad and my brothers returned to us, but Maglor still lingered with the hooded elf in a darkened corner of the room. Grandma Aurae winked at me as my gaze strayed in her direction and my brows rose as Dad placed a glass of deep red wine before me.

"I thank you kindly." I toasted him and he rolled his eyes, hugging me with one arm.

"I suppose I can at least keep an eye on just how much you drink this way and ensure someone can carry you home if needs be." He said dramatically, pale hair still bound behind him in neat braids.

"I hear we have another companion." I spoke in English under my breath.

"Indeed. Skulking in a corner and not entirely sure what to do with himself around so boisterous a crowd, no doubt." He answered back, lifting the glass to his lips. "I am a little glad Benny is away this evening – I would not wish for them to meet when her heart is heavy. She would only pick a fight with him."

"Do you think so?" I began, but then glanced up as a slight shadow was cast over us.

"I am sure that one day I shall learn that tongue more thoroughly." I stood and reached out to Maglor in an embrace, slightly abashed for being caught gossiping.

"And one day I am certain I will remember my manners. How are you this evening? I was not certain you would come."

"Bernadette has chosen to adopt me as one of her own flock, I would be amiss not to. May I...?" He gestured to the seat that was free still where Thúlië had left it; I nodded with a smile and he sat as I did. "Thank you. Speaking of the very lady, where is she this evening?"

Father and I shared a dark look. "She is with my husband. Today they mourn the loss of someone very dear to them both one thousand years ago exactly, and one who is still yet gone from our number." I explained as gently as I could. "She was very close to Arwen once she became Queen of Gondor, and Elladan yet remains in Middle Earth or whatever has become of it. You have come to know Mum as well as any of us – she feels things very deeply and blames herself for much."

Maglor closed his eyes for a brief moment, and then took my hand from across the table. "I understand, and I am sorry. I did not know – I only saw Aurae briefly in passing this morning and she made no mention of it then for I did not have the time. There has been an addition to my family of late – you may have heard." He nodded towards my brothers who waved at him in greeting, and then to my Dad who nodded back with a smile.

"I say to you as I did before - perhaps it is best that he does not yet meet my wife. I saw her briefly before I came here and I know she goes to see Lord Elrond and the Lady Celebrian. I hope that she will vent some of her frustrations in the way only she can." Dad explained and Maglor nodded his agreement.

"Absolutely I she will feel better for pouring her soul into her music. Valar, child, you are so silent upon your feet!" Maglor cried with a hand flying to his heart; turning as Thúlië tapped him on the shoulder, approaching him as a spectre from behind with a wicked grin.

"Aye, and a great benefit it is! I remembered that I left a pair of my shoes at Benny's so I simply went there – it is so much nearer. That aside, what should I happen to find but a pair of Mum's own shoes there too? They are a little worn but still solid enough for a dance or three." She proceeded to lean on my Father with no ceremony to pull on her dancing slippers, flexing her feet back and forth once the ribbons were tied. "Thank you, Uncle." She pressed a kiss to his cheek as he rolled his eyes, watching on fondly as she went to my Aunt and presented her with the shoes gleefully.

"You would not think she is so mature as she is when one manages to get her to settle." Maglor observed as J rose on to the tips of her shoes in unison with her daughter with natural ease.

"As with Bernadette, I am not entirely sure she knows the meaning of the word." Dad said drily. "Are you absolutely certain that Maedhros wishes to be included in this madness? I would not hold it against him."

"My brother, as I did, feels such desolate loneliness in his rebirth. In our deaths the oath which took us faded away but in its place a great chasm has been left which only acceptance and love may hope to fill. We have no right to ask for it." He stopped, glancing over his shoulder at the elf swathed in the nondescript blue material with an expression of unity I knew all too well. "I know not if ever we shall truly receive it. Yet I would have him know what it feels like to be part of a family again, for we are too used to such bonds of love as you are to go without it. Bernadette.. she is a remarkable woman. I think that she will do him good."

"I think perhaps she will." Dad said, and then stood, offering me his hand. "Come then, trouble. If he can manage you, Thúlië, Tatharien and Amdiriel when you are united and drunk then he should just about manage your Mother."

"Such love do you hear in his voice." I said to Maglor who laughed outright as I stood. "I best him today shooting, and he is a terrible loser." I informed the other elf whose brows rose. He stood and watched as J and Thúlië danced together – I could see across the room the elf in the cloak tilted his head to see just how they danced, their laughter ringing truly as Thúlië twirled under her Mother's arm.

"I am not – you were already well ahead of me and I had barely a hope of catching up." Dad offered me his arm and I took it, my brothers appearing by my side. I took a deep breath, not letting my nerves get to me and instead put my most charming smile in place. Arm in arm with my Father I caught Thúlië by the waist and pulled her with me for a little more moral support.

Flanked by my family, most following curiously to see just what was happening. As I approached Maglor crouched beside him, no doubt explaining who we were, and with hesitant movements he finally lowered the hood which disguised the deep auburn hair which had been hidden before.

That wasn't the first thing I truly noticed; oh no. It was the fear and the sorrow in his eyes, as fathomless and grey as his brother's when I had very first met him. Cold, uncertain, and so very alone. Thousands of years in the care of Mandos had changed him, truly; I knew as surely as I drew breath. There was nothing else I could do

"Hello there, I'm Litawen." I held out my hand, forthright as always, my words filled with all the warmth I held in my heart.

"Are you, now?" His lips turned upwards at the corner as he took my hand in his firmly. "You have the hands of an archer; a most unusual occupation for a woman." He turned my palm over and then back again, lingering upon my fingertips.

"Do you shoot?" I asked, sitting opposite him with no invitation at all to do so – I had a feeling on just how I needed to handle this prickly Lord.

"A little."

"Good, then tomorrow you are welcome to join me, and try to best me. You shall see that I rank as well as any of the greatest elven archers you may ever meet." I took my hand back, examining my nails and hands thoughtfully as I felt the callouses that he must have noted.

"Better than Prince Legolas, and Captain Haldir who sired you?"

"Oh yes." I glanced up at my Father with bright eyes. "Would you like a drink? My Father lost our latest tournament and so is paying for all the wine I desire this evening."

There it was – his eyes lightened just a little and he laughed outright. "Well then, Lady Litawen, let us see if you hold your drink quite so well as you shoot. Maedhros at your service." He bowed his head to me and I did the same. "I shall spare Captain Haldir on this occasion for it seems we have quite the company. Excuse me!" He called to the lady who stood behind the bar, his expression changing from harsh to amiable in the blink of an eye. "A few bottles for the table, if you would be so very kind?"

His words had power, clearly a voice used to command and conjuring respect even before one knew precisely who he was. "Of course, my Lord." she bowed her head and then he turned back to me, his hand sweeping out to gesture at the family who stood behind me in droves.

"Now, one by one if you will. I see that there is an army of you here, and but only a few of you do I know by name. Let us start with the charming Lady who ran directly into me at the door!"

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**So, what do we think? Reviews, as always, are sincerely appreciated and mean the world to me :) **


	11. One Thousand and Twenty Five - Part 2

**Hey everyone! **

**Okay, so your reviews are all awesome! I love you all. **

**I had a lot of fun with this chapter - a little bit of comic relief, as they say. I firmly believe that elves can, and will, get hangovers. No matter how super-duper your regeneration is, you chuck enough alcohol at your liver and eventually it's going to hate you and cry for a while.**

**Read up on the story of Maedhros if you don't know. I'm HEAVILY assuming that my readers know what happened to the sons of Feanor, but check it on the Encyclopedia of Arda or something if you're not sure.**

**Reviews completely make my world go round. Here's a quicker update for you, and I should have a chapter after the weekend. I'm off to see my own twins to wish them a happy birthday and get into all sorts of bother. **

**Lots of love, **

**MM -x**

* * *

The evening passed with surprising ease, an I had somehow ended up in the most ridiculous of drinking contests with our latest companion at the prompting of Legolas, who had told quite the tale of Gimli which had even I giggling.

"Ah, but you did start to feel some effect from the beer eventually, or so he told it. I miss beer." Aunty Tori frowned, swirling her glass of wine.

"Beer makes you fat, shut up." J rolled her eyes, leaning back against Glorfndel with a small smile herself. "Though didn't you quite take a liking to it in Gondor?" She had asked Father who grimaced a little.

"I am not certain I truly gained a taste for the drink – it was rather heavy, but Benny did seem to like it." He supplied, but I was then a little lost as to what they were speaking of.

"What is beer?" I asked, only to be promptly ignored by everyone.

"That's because she acts like a man and can drink like a man when she fancies it. I remember she told me about a drinking competition she had with Sam... Sorry, Elladan, when she was at University in her first term."

"Ah yes; the way she tells it, she drank him under the table." Dad said thoughtfully as I swept my hair back high upon my head to keep it from my face.

"What is beer? By the Valar, are you all deaf?" I cried again.

Maglor raised a hand as both he and Maedhros looked hopelessly lost. "Perhaps when we have all consumed a little less, you can explain the full tale of Elrond's second son and the Lady Bernadette when she took mortal form. I know I would not recall it in full and you certainly will not – you never were one for finer details." He said to his brother lightly. "More wine?"

Maedhros had looked only vaguely insulted by his brother's insinuations. "She took mortal form?" We all nodded. "Very well – I see there is much more to this family than is apparent upon a first glance. I would enjoy meeting the very Lady who can drink an elf under the table, even in a mortal shell."

"Likely a ploy on Elladan's part, I assure you. However, I am certain between my cousin Litawen and I you shall have stiff competition enough for one evening. Only if you best us can you take on Benny."

"Is that so, my Lady Thúlië?" He leaned across the table and poured us both a glass with a look of fiery challenge in his eyes. "_Cheers_, as mortals do so fondly say." He raised his glass and downed it before watching us expectantly.

"You got some hangover cure?" Thúlië muttered under her breath in English to me as she picked up her glass.

"Mum will have – she always has some to hand." I assured her in the same language, only earning dark looks from both Maglor and his brother who did not understand our tongue – Maedhros not at all, though Maglor knew enough to get by. As one we touched our glasses together in a toast and tipped our heads back before placing our glasses in unison upon the table with a thud.

"Bring it on." She challenged him, and I heard both my Dad and Glorfindel groan as one.

Thúlië won, but not without quite serious repercussions. I had come close to beating Maedhros but knew vaguely that if I didn't stop soon, I would make myself rather violently ill. My cousin had no such fear for her boundaries and finished half a bottle cleanly above the Lord who had joined our number in a trial by fire, to say the very least.

I tried to stand but failed spectacularly, sitting back down before I did any damage. Maglor was watching his brother curiously as he reached for the next glass, but then dropped his hand with a groan.

"I cannot." His voice was a slur and I looked across at Thúlië who smiled pleasantly as his head dropped back against the wall with a thud. "You have bested me, Lady."

"Good." Her cry was triumphant and mostly coherent, but then her shoulders seemed to heave. "Now if someone would be so kind as to assist me... I rather think I shall faint."

Ami and Tath reached out as one to grab her before she hit the floor, her eyelids fluttering shut. After that my own memories were rather hazy and I wasn't entirely sure how I had got home that evening, for when I woke it was fully light and my mouth felt as though I had decided to eat a bucket of sand. Clearly, I had forgotten my draught and water before falling asleep and now I heavily paid the price for it.

"Oh Valar, Lita; I think I am dead." I cracked open an eye and saw my cousins and aunts about me upon the floor of my parents home – the kitchen if I was correct - surrounded by furs and pillows for comfort. I wasn't certain where the sound came from, but the answering groans in reply were unanimous.

"Dead." Ami supplied, not moving from her position on her front. "Definitely dead."

"Morning everyone!" An obnoxiously loud voice interrupted our misery. "Does anyone have a hangover? Should I be a little bit quieter?"

"Aunty Benny, if you do not shut up I will shut you up." Tatharien was the first to sit up, her eyes bleary. "Does anyone know if Miresgalon got home?" She asked but I closed my eyes again, collapsing back to prevent the world from spinning and to fight off the sheen of sweat that swept me.

"All men are in the living room – you can check the bodies if you like." Mum's words were still far too loud in my head.

"Definitely dead." I repeated to myself as I tried to lick my lips, but then felt sturdy arms lift me from my position upon the floor into a sitting one and I groaned out loud.

"Here, my wild one." I felt a glass pressed against my lips and I drank the cold water until I no longer felt the overwhelming desire to vomit, and then dared to look up at Elrohir with a slightly guilty expression.

"So, I think I'll not be drinking with Maedhros again." I said, my throat still a little dry and the words raspy.

"Nor I." Thúlië's words still sounded a little slurred. "I hate you all."

"Probably for the best. Are you sure you are well?" His lips pressed against my forehead tenderly.

"It was fun, please do not fuss. Though I am not entirely too sure how I came to be here." I gestured vaguely at my cousins and aunts who were all around us in stages of consciousness.

"I was walking Benny home and happened upon you and Haldir as he half-carried you home, your brothers in tow in only a slightly straighter line. Thúlië fainted at the table and so Glorfindel had to carry her, and you were soundly asleep not long after you got in." His fingers brushed my face, his fine dark hair loose and free about him and his blue-grey eyes tender. "I think, Valar forbid it, you were even snoring. I have never seen you drink so."

"You know me – never one to refuse a dare." My jaw cracked in a wide yawn before I nestled my head into Elrohir's shoulder. "I rather enjoyed letting go completely. It has been many years since I last did so. Never mind that – how was your day?"

"Later, love." He chuckled. "Later when you can stand upon your own two feet and I do not have to catch you."

"Mum, have you got any of your marvellous remedy to hand?" I dared to ask, and all bodies around me stirred at last with expectant and pleading gazes.

The dark-haired lady was leaning over the counter with a devilish grin, her eyes alight. "You're so lucky I like you all. I just finished a batch whilst you still slept, it's cooling now and will be ready shortly. In the meantime..." She turned back to the stove and I heard the hiss and sizzle of something in a pan.

"Oh God, please tell me that's a fry-up." Tor said, standing and stretching. She wore an undershirt and comfortable breeches slung about her hips, and as I looked down I noticed we all wore similar garb. Elrohir caught my confused look and chuckled as he stood, offering a hand to me so that I could do the same.

"Benny gave them to each of you in turn last night. Most of you were still awake enough to manage yourselves, but for Thúlië. You were amazing, dear one." He told her fondly as she rubbed her eyes. "I think you now have half of Aman in love with you for your grace, poise, and sharp tongue."

"Is that sarcasm? I think that is sarcasm." Her eyes were narrowed as she struggled to sit, and then launched a pillow at Elrohir with surprising accuracy. "Help me, Mummy." she moaned and I heard J sigh as she crawled over to her daughter, helping her to sit more securely and stroking her face free of fine hair before taking her hands in her own and pulling her to stand.

"I was being serious." Elrohir laughed, kissing my forehead before wandering across the large kitchen. "Do you need any help?" I heard him ask, moving to my Mum's side as I stared around at the carnage we had created. All were stood now but for Ami who was sat with her legs folded, braiding her hair over one shoulder. I offered my hand to her and she took it, miles of leg stretching languidly as she did so.

"Gods, but that was a night and a half." She said with a laugh, leaning against me.

"That it was. Good morning, Litawen." I felt an arm at my waist and I met Dad's silvery eyes with a slight blush.

"Morning, Dad."

"How is your head?" He dared to ask and I thumped him solidly. "Oh, well enough for violence I see. Perhaps you can cope without this wonderful draught." He waved a vial in front of my face and I reached out for it, pulling it from his fingers before he could dance away any further. The liquid hit my throat and I felt its effects instantly – the nausea and blinding headache fading away though the ridiculously dry mouth still remained.

I moved as quickly as I dared to the dining table, shifted slightly so that we all had room to collapse the night before. "Where are Grandmother and Grandfather?" I asked, leaning against the chair for a moment before sitting with a light thud.

"Upstairs; probably the best place for them with the likes of you lot strewn everywhere." Mum said fondly, placing a plate of bacon, eggs, sausages, grilled tomatoes and slices of bread that had been fried before me along with a glass of water and a blessed, tiny glass of her miraculous cure for those prone to drinking a little more than they should. My cousins, Aunts, my Dad and my charming husband sat around me, those taking her remedy that needed it and each with a plate of food in front of them within moments. The noise level was instantaneous in its change as soon as the draught took hold, and I tucked straight into the monstrosity of a breakfast with the stomach of a soldier back from a march.

"Gods, but this is outstanding." Tatharien looked with rapture as she nibbled on the toast. The smell of cooking food must have stirred the men from their pits, for I saw a slightly bedraggled Maedhros stood at the door. Now I could see that his deep red hair seemed to glow in the light of day like a flame, his eyes as cool as ice and he towered above everyone but my Father and his brother.

"How is it possible for you all to be making quite so much of a din as you are now, and not feel as if you were bringing an ultimate doom upon yourself and your companions?"

Mum's brows rose but she provided a measure of her draught into a small glass, and then poured a larger goblet of water for him. "This." She held out the pale blue liquid to him. "Followed by water, followed by breakfast, and I promise that the dwarves mining your skull will be nothing more than a bad dream."

Maedhros stared at her blankly. "And I know that you are trying to poison me precisely how?"

"Blimey, you're paranoid." Mum laughed, her head thrown back a little. "I'm a healer, I'm not out to kill anyone. I mean, Osellë came kind of close, but we've moved past that now." She teased with a glance at my Aunt who raised her glass in a toast.

"It is true – she flogs me instead when we run together." Osellë said with humour and then took a bite of her bacon with an expression of delight. "Then, she does feed me, so I must learn when to curb my tongue."

Mum rolled her eyes a little but then shook the little glass in her hand in offering to Maedhros.

"Is that a hangover shot? Ah, Benny, you are my most favourite Aunt." Mir stole the shot directly from her outstretched hand and downed it in one before pouring himself a glass of water which he swallowed in quick succession. "Oh, thank the Valar." He rubbed his face as Mum blinked twice at her now empty hand.

"Well, safe to say it isn't going to poison you." Thúlië piped up then as Maedhros stared around the room at us, and I chuckled as Elrohir shifted over to make space for Miresgalon. "Which it would not anyway, of course."

"Good morning, love." He greeted Tath with a peck to her lips before stealing a slice of the fried bread from her plate. Maedhros looked truly bewildered as equally bleary males emerged from the sitting room in various stages of recovery – each stopping to pour a shot of Mum's remedy followed by a generous glass of water. Even Uncle Glorfindel, usually incredibly strong in his constitution, poured a small measure before helping himself to food.

"Two slices of bacon, one sausage, three tomatoes, two slices of toast! Any more than that and you're all dead. I'm talking to you, Callon, put that bread down." Mum called to them, earning salutes from all and a curse from my brother who had been caught in his tracks. Maglor finally surfaced, hair as neat as it had been the night before, and ignoring his brother he gave my Mum a warm hug.

"Hello, my dear Bernadette. How are you?" His eyes searched hers for a moment and with a frown I noticed she looked anywhere but at him when she answered.

"I'm fine, I always am." She patted his arm with a slightly wobbly smile, eyes focussed upon Dad who had become a little still.

"You are lying."

"I'm. _Fine._" There was the warning snap in her voice then, and she finally met his eyes with a look so frigid my heart turned to ice. "Now get that great lug to take some hangover draught and then sit down... somewhere." She swept her hand in front of her vaguely, and then her head snapped to the side as she was distracted by my Uncle sweeping slyly into the room and finding a plate of precisely what he wanted.

"Oi, Greenleaf, did I say four rashers of bacon? No, I did not." She extracted herself from the taller elf's arms with a slight wiggle and he laughed, giving her a push. The moment her back was turned I saw him frown and he met my eyes with concern. I nodded just once – one of us would bully whatever it was out of her – and then dared to approach his brother who still stood alone by the door.

"Brother, what in the name of all creation is this?" Maedhros gestured around the room with a bewildered look.

"This is one family." Maglor said fondly, pouring him a glass of the remedy and placing it in his brother's hands. "And the lady at the centre of it all is Bernadette, barely scraping five feet in height but with a heart and mind as fierce as the warriors who love her." His words were low but I heard them and smiled, as did Elrohir by my side. His affection for her was quite genuine, and it seemed that his brother knew not how to handle such easy and open acceptance.

"Then how have you become so involved in it?" He seemed so genuinely baffled by the whole concept that it made my heart ache for him unwittingly.

"I do believe she adopted me, brother. She has a very open heart, and she is perceptive " Maglor said with humour, and then gestured for his brother to drink the liquid. "It truly will help and then you can finally be pleasant."

"I have no desire to be pleasant."

"You will when you drink that." Thúlië said, clearly listening in to their conversation and becoming bored of it. "And then there are five things you will need to learn about this family." She stood, taking her plate to the sink, and then strode up to the fiery elf as he finally downed the liquid. She offered him a goblet of water which he took and drank before a look of bliss crossed his face.

"Valar, that is quite remarkable and I am sorry that I ever doubted the Lady who first offered it to me. Now then, my lovely assailant, what is it that I should know?" He laughed, and Thúlië blushed a little before shaking her head to clear away the thoughts that seemed to trouble her.

"The first is that we have few secrets and very little privacy, we are brutally honest, but we are also trustworthy. Number two is that we enjoy our bets and wagers. The third is that, as everyone here will agree, is that Aunty Benny is usually right. Number four is that we do nothing by half - you are either in, or you are out."

"And what of number five?" Maedhros seemed to stare at Thúlië as she looked up at him, hands on her hips.

"If you are 'in', then no better family could you wish for. Whilst we may appear mismatched on the surface, we are all the more cohesive for it. I speak not lightly when I say that they are the most loyal, caring, strong, creative and remarkable people you will ever hope to meet." Her words were tender then as she turned to look at all of us. "And we are a family filled with love, even when we do wish to kill each other. It is what makes us stronger still."

Mum came to stand beside my cousin then, giving her hand a squeeze. "You're more trouble than you're worth." She said with a laugh, kissing her temple.

"So, you are the infamous Lady Bernadette of whom Maglor speaks so fondly. I find it curious." His brows drew and I felt a prickle of displeasure at his tone.

"What have you been telling him so that he thinks I'm _infamous_?" Mum frowned. "Cheers. Now, I'd like you to clarify precisely what you find curious."

"You have a rather powerful circle of companions, all who love you fiercely, and I simply wish to know what inspires such loyalty in you."

The hiss of breath echoed around us, and I felt my fingers itching for my bow. No one, but _no one_ insulted Mum no matter their rank or their station in life, and this particular elf had absolutely no room to speak of loyalty and love. I felt a gentle hand upon my neck rubbing soothing circles, and I gave Elrohir a thankful smile before I went back to watch the interplay now between Mother and Maedhros as they stared at each other, food long forgotten.

"You and I are going to have a falling out if you're not careful." Her words were measured. "People make mistakes, and I don't believe that you have to carry the weight of those mistakes for the rest of your life as if they define everything about you. However, being an ass _does_ define you in the here and now and I've learned quickly not to take bullshit from anyone. So what will it be?"

"Valar, but you truly are honest." His words were as dry as hot sand.

"Doesn't serve any purpose to dance with words when you don't need to. Certainly not with family. You have to understand – we are a group who have faced difficulties. We've faced battle and death on our own fronts, just as you did." She paused and then smiled tenderly, her eyes sweeping the room. "But we're all the better for it."

Maedhros remained silent as he watched Mum, and she turned back to him with her head cocked and a sudden devious grin. "You don't know what to do with it all, do you? The fact that I don't hate you. You thought I was going to poison you right from the start. You're insecure, you know that you are going to get a lot of flack, and so you automatically assume the worst of everyone."

"You are rather impertinent, Lady. You have no right to say these things nor pass out judgement as if before a court." He snapped, trying to turn and leave, but instead Thúlië darted out from beside Mum and reached out to grab his wrist so that he couldn't back away. Something inside me knew then that he was fighting this not because he truly did not wish to be a part of our family, but because he was terrified of being so loved and so suddenly.

"Honest. I said that we were honest with one another, always." My cousin corrected him, fighting to meet his gaze. "You can try and say that both Benny and I are wrong, and that from two ladies of shorter stature such as we you have nothing to fear. You can think that if it makes you feel better, but Benny and I know the truth. I know that whilst physical scars may be long gone from your form, the ones upon your soul will ever remain. This, I can assure you, and Benny knows it better than any."

"Thúlië, please don't." She begged and finally Dad stood, feeling her distress.

"No Benny, he must hear this; sit down, Haldir. He must hear that he is not alone. She suffered at the hands of Sauron but still she loves; still she has such joy and passion, though the scars from that torture and from the silence she was bound to keep will ever remain. And from the way you've frozen completely, I can tell that no-one has taken this hand in a very long time."

She was right, Gods above. When Thúlië had grasped his right wrist he had stopped, his eyes had widened and his lips parted; a look of shock gracing such elegant and beautiful features. "No." He rasped, raising the hand where her fingers still clutched from his side so that it was splayed outwards. "No, they have not. You too are as perceptive as your Aunt, my Lady."

Slowly, painstakingly, her hand unclenched as she was assured that he would no longer run. Thúlië's delicate fingers traced over his wrist, thumb, and then over his palm which was upturned before them both. I could see her eyes follow each line of the broad palm, memorising the curve and the faint veins below the surface of his skin and as her fingers drew an intricate pattern over his wrist Maedhros flinched but did not look away. I watched, astounded, as his fingers curled around Thúlië's until her hand was engulfed in his own completely, and I felt my heart flutter and swell in my chest and butterflies ravaged my stomach in anticipation.

"So, my Lord Maedhros, are you 'in'?" Thúlië asked him, still focussed on their joined hands.

"You would truly have me, despite all the ills that I have caused? Despite all those whose blood is upon my hands?" He seemed to ask all of us the question as Maedhros finally tore his eyes away from the hand that clasped Thúlië's.

"I stood beside you, sword drawn as you did, and yet I have found some place here amongst such remarkable people." Maglor gestured, and then placed his hand over the one which clasped Thúlië's. "I left you to torture and to agony, hoping you had passed instead of being left to suffer at the hands of our enemy. It should have been I who came for you."

"Many here have blood on their hands in one way or another, Maedhros." Glorfindel said then, breaking the silence from the onlookers. "Many here, myself included, will ever bear a mark of darkness upon our souls, for we know death."

"You must not forget that you fought to reunite houses where you could, and above all together you raised my Father and his brother. Without such, the world as we know it would never have come in to being. All of the good that has since been may never have come." Elorhir said from beside me, standing and approaching Maedhros. "For that, you will ever have my thanks."

"I have the blood of Men on my hands; the kind I used to belong to. Even now I hate myself for it." Tori said, her voice void of all emotion as Legolas sighed and drew her hand to his lips in a kiss before letting her go to stand beside the Lord with a hand on his right arm, above his brother's.

"I sometimes thought about killing myself, when I couldn't face the nightmares any longer." Jade admitted with equal frankness before joining her twin. "When I couldn't tell what was a dream and what was my reality."

"I have the blood of all those I couldn't save, despite knowing all that would come and that still will. The attacks on Lothlorien and Mirkwood during the war were worsened dramatically by my direct actions." Mum whispered, her eyes closed.

She stood apart from them still – often how she preferred to be, but now Father had moved and held her about the waist. "Haldir, it's fine, please." She took a deep breath and opened her eyes, which shone far more green for the threatening of tears. "Even after the war, I left Middle Earth despite knowing everything that Men will do to each other, and everything I could try to prevent. I had to let things be exactly as they would be."

"And I have the blood of my wife and daughters on my hands. "

I heard a voice from the shadows, and then my grandfather emerged from the doorway with bleak but frank eyes. His hand reached out to rest on Maedhros' shoulder, a lopsided smile on his face as my Grandmother wove between us. "But they are the most wonderful people despite their deaths and rebirths. You would do well to accept that which they offer."

"I do not deserve this." He protested weakly, eyes sweeping to meet my cousin's again.

"Perhaps not, but you have it anyway, my Lord." Thúlië smiled then, a true and genuine one that lit up the room like sunlight that we could all bask in. "Now, I cannot and will not abide such solemn faces. Litawen, I recall a challenge yesterday evening?"

"Aye; aye, that is true." Maedhros laughed, seemingly drinking from Thúlië's brightness, and even as all others stood away from him their hands were still joined. "Yet... yet I fear I do not know these lands as well as once I did. Many things have changed in the thousands of years I have been gone from these shores."

"Do not worry – I will show you. We all will." She promised for all of us, and our voices raised in agreement – even those such as my Grandparents and Miresgalon who sat back with a curious expression upon his face.

"I thank you, Lady Thúlië." His head bowed as he drew their clasped hands to his lips, and pressed them against her fingers that were exposed in his grasp.

**xxxXxxx**

"Pay up." Ami said that evening as I sat in Mum's front room, my head upon Elrohir's lap as he stroked and swirled my hair whilst he read. After our archery contest, Maedhros losing with a spectacular display of a fiery temper and curses that had Mum giggling for hours, he had gone to see Elrond and Celebrian after months of avoiding them.

"Pardon?" I asked, blinking. Maglor looked up from the letter he wrote with a curious expression.

"You heard me, darling. Pay up. I was right – our cloaked man has rather enchanted Thúlië." Amdiriel looked pleased with herself and I turned to her, propping myself up.

"We never consolidated a price, but after today I perhaps agree." I advised her. "You shall not empty my purse quite so easily."

"Do you speak of our guest and your cousin?" Elrohir asked curiously, and we both nodded. "I noticed that. I suppose she entranced him, or was it rather the other way around?"

"What do you speak of?" Maglor asked at last, his curiosity finally getting the better of him.

"I think we have a new pool. Do you remember when you first introduced us to your brother, and what happened when you arrived at the tavern?"

"Yes, of course. He entered the door before me and Thúlië crashed right... into him." His eyes widened as he remembered the scene. "No, you do not think...? Oh but of course!"

"So obvious it hurts, is it not?" Ami laughed. "Mark my words – something will happen there."

"Put me in for a marriage in the next ten years." I fished in my pocket for a gold coin and flung it to her.

"Ten? That is generous. He is only just coming around to the idea of family once more. I say marriage within the next hundred. Would you be so kind, love?" He asked me and I retrieved a second coin which my cousin caught deftly from the air, adding it to one of her own.

"Do you truly wager on if Thúlië and Maedhros will find love together?" Maglor looked astounded.

"Not _if_, but _when_." Amdiriel corrected.

"Are you betting on Thúlië?" Two voices spoke as one and then both Aunty J and Aunty Tori were in the room, identical troublesome expressions. "What have we got so far?"

"One upon ten years, two upon one hundred."

"I'll have in on one hundred." Tori patted down her tunic and found her coin purse, taking out a single coin and throwing it towards Amdiriel. "What do you say, J?"

"Tricky, tricky." She sat at my feet, lifting them so that they rested upon her lap. "I'll say ten – what Thúlië wants, she tends to get." Tori threw in another coin for J's wager.

"May I borrow your quill and some parchment? I must write these down so that I do not forget. What do you think?"

"You are wagering upon your own daughter?" Maglor looked astounded, and we all turned to him.

"Yes, clearly." J looked amused. "It isn't the first time. We had wagers on Osellë and Orophin getting together, I think there was one about me and Glorfindel..."

"Three." Tori corrected.

"... Three about me and Glorfindel. Really, three? Anyway, there was also the one about if Benny would be able to consummate her marriage on her wedding night – long story – and then of course those two." J jerked her thumb towards us and I giggled, remembering the night Elrohir had proposed.

Maglor seemed to pause, and then passed his quill and a leaf of pale parchment to Amdiriel who quickly wrote down our wagers. "If I trust my brother and know him at all, if he decides upon a path then he will not give up on it easily – his temper is as fiery as his hair, I fear." He leaned forward to flick a coin at Ami with a devilish look in his eye. "Within one year they will be betrothed, I think."

Ami's brows rose but she said nothing more as she scribbled his wager down. "One for one year, two for ten, and three upon one hundred. This will be an interesting wager."

"What wager?" Mum asked breathlessly, her hair tied high above her head as she jogged through the house after her run with Osellë hot on her heels. "Hi, Maglor. How's Maedhros coping?"

"He has sought out Elrond to seek amends there whilst he has the stomach for it, once your daughter had trounced him completely in their tourney."

"Good man – I'll make sure we've got some wine breathing in case he comes back and needs a glass or three. So; Thúlië, yes?" She peered over Amdiriel's shoulder at the paper. "Put me down for five years. Haldir!" She jogged across the room and leaned through the arches out into the gardens at the back of the house.

"Yes?" I saw him come into view, along with his brothers, Legolas, and Glorfindel.

"Maedhros and Thúlië – what do you all think?" She called, waving them forward so that she no longer had to shout. "Come in so I can catch the shutters."

"If or when?" Legolas fished in his pockets, as did all others except Glorfindel whose eyes narrowed at us all.

"When – marriage proposal." Mum clarified, closing the slatted and carved wooden shutters to keep out the chill of the night.

"Valar, you cannot help yourselves – and once you dared to call me a meddling fool!" Glorfindel grimaced. "This family is becoming ridiculous." He sat at J's feet, his back resting against her knees as her hands wound into his hair. "Have at it then – what are the wagers so far, daughter-mine?"

"One year, five years, ten, and then one hundred."

Once the rounds had been done we looked at the final score but for Glorfindel, who still seemed to be deciding. Rumil and Dad had leaned towards fifty years, where Orophin had entered for both he and Osellë at ten years each.

"If you take a shine to Gil-galad so help me, I will have to end his life and yours, Amdiriel. Benny, why must out children pick the most difficult paths they possibly can?" He asked rhetorically and then sighed, rubbing his face. "So that is three at one hundred, two at fifty, four at ten, one at five and one at one year."

"Correct so far. We of course yet must ask Tatharien and Miresgalon, as well as the twins."

"And Elanor." Orophin added. "Though I suspect she will lean around the fifty-year mark; she always was more conservative on her wagers."

"Speaking of the twins, have you seen them? I gave Gel our keys when I hunted today and as much as I love you all, I crave my own bed and not a solid floor." I grinned as Elrohir helped me to sit up, making room for Osellë to collapse beside me at last once she had cooled from her exercise.

"With Thúlië, I expect; those three are as thick as thieves and ever they have been. Maedhros truly will not know what has hit him." Glorfindel drew a coin to his lips then, tapping the cool metal against his skin as he made a decision. He launched the coin into the air, watching it spin before it landed in Amdiriel's outstretched palm.

"One year. Within one year, we will know."

* * *

**Are you telling me you _wouldn't_ bet on stuff like this? Cause I totally would. What do you all think?! Lots of love to you all! :) **


	12. Litawen at One Thousand and Twenty Six

**Hi guys, **

**Well, this chapter is a slight epic, but I love it. I had a lot of fun. **

**Your reviews are amazing and I'm so thankful for them! I've been away this weekend but as soon as I have a moment I'll reply personally :) **

**Please enjoy, and tell me what you think, **

**MM -x**

* * *

I strolled the beach aimlessly, boots in my hand and breeches rolled up to the knee so that I could let the water lap against my ankles. I had spent the winter over the mountains with my Grandparents, even without Elrohir, and I now finally wandered towards home as spring began at last. It would be Tatharien's wedding in but a week and so I wanted to surprise her being home early, though I had found it surprisingly difficult to leave the most peaceful lands I had ever known.

I had spent day after day in gardens and libraries, by streams and in woodland either in an aimless wander or with those I knew. Lord Celeborn had eagerly listened to our family news – with some concern regarding both Maglor and now Maedhros returned – but seemed more at ease once I had advised him of just how wonderful they seemed to be. Together he, Elrond and Elrohir were chronicling the times of Middle Earth in full, and I eagerly supplied myself as a first reader of their drafts – an edit or two here and there, and stories of Eldarion and Arwen's other children that I could recall.

I had torn myself away from the beauty of the lands I had found, and with my family in tow we had returned to the coast and to the madness we knew so very well. Amdiriel had gone straight to find J and Glorfindel, and I had simply curled up with my Mum. It was the longest I had ever been separated from she which I had sought to remedy as soon as possible, but I felt a longing in my heart for my husband so it was now in that direction I walked.

"Lita!" I heard the joyful shriek and I turned just in time to see Thúlië flying towards me. I dropped my bag and boots a little further up the beach to save them from being damaged by the water before meeting her half-way in a crushing embrace.

"Ai, my wildling! Oh, I've missed you." I kissed her cheek as I held her face in my hands. Her blue eyes, so like Glorfindel's, seemed to glow with a light all of their own as her beaming smile only broadened.

"And I you – it is not the same when you are gone. How were our Grandparents? Have you brought them, Ami and Elanor with you?" Her words came out in an exhilarated rush and I felt the same dreaminess come upon me that I had suffered for the last few days.

"Wonderful, truly, and yes they have! Oh but the stories I have to tell, when I am settled in my own home at last. How are you, since I have been away?"

"I am absolutely wonderful, as always." She stopped and blushed then, suddenly. "Though there is something I would speak to you about – I have not had yet the heart to speak to Mum and of course with you and Amdiriel away I have only had the twins for company, for Tath has been so absorbed in wedding plans."

"Oh, really now?" I took her arm in mine, walking back along the beach. "Pray tell, darling one."

"Hmm." She said, and stooped to grab my boots as I took my bag. "What is it like, to love someone? How did you know when you loved Elrohir?"

"I cannot explain it, truly." I said thoughtfully. "I knew right away that something was between us. It was like a shock, a flame..." I floundered, trying to find the words. "I hated not seeing him, I felt happier than ever when in his company. And of course I desired him – yes, like that you little deviant." I rolled my eyes as she laughed rather filthily. "But it felt as if I had found a missing part of my soul, my true mate."

"I see." Her words were strained and I felt the muscles in her arm tense and relax over and over.

"Thúlië, is something going on?" I asked her outright and she stopped, dropping to the sand with her dress pooling about her. She tucked it back so that it was well past her knees, letting the water climb and drift back from her feet. I sat next to her, taking her hand in my own again. "Talk to me, wild one. What has you so tied in knots?"

"I did something decidedly stupid – or rather, my heart did." She whispered with a brief glance around us. "I think... I think I have found myself rather in love, and so suddenly. However, it is with someone so wholly unobtainable I fear I have led myself to a life of utter loneliness and misery."

"Does this have something to do with our latest hot-headed companion?" I nudged her and she nodded with her beautiful blue eyes downcast.

"Perhaps. Is it truly so obvious?"

"A little, I confess, but perhaps just to me." I gave her hand a squeeze. "I know you – I can read your mind!" I giggled then, tickling her without hesitation until she laughed at last, wriggling away from my hands. "If you must know, I don't think it is wholly hopeless." I said cautiously.

"I could only wish, Lita. He occasionally comes as I accompany the twins in their hunts or in a general tourney, but rarely speaks to me. He hides sometimes in the trees or foliage – I know not why. On those days he does not speak or laugh, but simply watches."

"Do you let him know that you are aware of him?" I asked curiously, uncertain as to why else he would watch her but for at least taking a fancy to her.

"Gods, no, how could I? I would only embarrass myself. Half the time I find myself so completely flustered around him and I have to let myself become so distracted by something else and run away, lest I make a fool of myself further. My heart beats so quickly and I feel fraught with nerves but Valar, I cannot help but feel myself smile when I see him. Despite his penchant to sulking or the sharp quips that he hides behind I only wish to be there longer still, just around him and in his company."

Her words poured entirely from her heart now and I felt the same yearning just as she did. "You deserve such happiness and so does he, but you have to let him know! I do not mean tell him outright, wild one, but showing him. Have you danced with him at any of Mum's celebrations?"

"No! What a ridiculous thought – why would he seek to dance with me?" She laughed then, completely incredulous.

I stared at her, dumbfounded. "Are you mad? Thúlië, you are beautiful and wild and free. How could any not love you?"

"It will never happen, Litawen. He is so far above my station that the very idea of a romance between us is ludicrous. I cannot believe my heart has so treacherously led me down a path I cannot follow."

"Oh, and it was not so between Glorfindel and Jade?" I prompted and she paused, chewing her lip as I flouted her senseless attempt at reasoning.

"It was not the same. His house and titles were gone but for in memory, and they wed within Middle Earth where they were readily accepted. It will not be so here." Thúlië argued back at last, rather firmly and brooking no further discussion on the matter.

I sighed and let my eyes roam the beach freely, and felt a clench in my stomach as the very object of our conversation strolled along the beach, head low, in some conversation with his brother and Elrohir. I tried to reach out and to him, feeling the beat of his heart next to mine, and I revelled in the sensation of it for a moment. His soul felt bare before me as he didn't seem to quite notice my heart reaching to his, and so I engulfed myself

As I did so, I had a strange burst of inspiration and I eyed my cousin who showed an ample amount of leg still, with her head tilted back and golden hair sweeping the sand as the light of the early afternoon caressed her skin. I considered my action for the briefest of moments but considering what she had said about Maedhros and his penchant for observing her, I could not help myself as I called out.

"Elrohir!"

All three heads snapped in our direction at once and I saw Thúlië turn her head just as Maedhros found where the noise had come from. A furious burn flew up her chest, neck and cheeks and she made a strange sound somewhere between a sob and a laugh.

"Ai, Lita, you witch!" Thúlië hissed, grappling with her dress and pulling it down as best as she could before giving up, her head low. "I wish for the ground to swallow me." She muttered, standing and brushing the sand away. I ignored her completely, running at full pelt along the beach until I could fling myself at my husband – I had not realised just how much I had missed him as we collided, body and soul.

"I did not expect you back!" he laughed as I stood upon the tips of my toes to kiss him chastely before offering an embrace to both Maglor and Maedhros in turn, who stood stock still staring at Thúlië who still stood a distance away rather awkwardly, waving bashfully before grabbing my things and all but fleeing down the beach. I sighed and then with a roll of my eyes, pinched the remarkably tall elf in the site for the pain he unwittingly caused my cousin.

"She won't bite you." I said with humour, which seemed to snap him out of whatever trance he had been in.

"She always runs. Why does she always run?" He sighed, rubbing his side absently.

"Staring at a lady's naked legs is _absolutely _the way to embarrass her." I pointed out and to my delight, he flushed.

"I was not..."

"Lies – I see right through them." I chuckled.

"I would not know what to say to her. She flees from me and I know that I make her uncomfortable."

"Oh, I wonder why? You have such a charming disposition." I teased and finally his sullen mood relented as quickly as it seemed to come.

"Perhaps. Welcome back, Litawen. How was your time over the mountains?"

"Entirely relaxing, and it was wonderful to spend some time with my Grandparents. Amdiriel took great delight in showing me around garden after garden and more than once did I sleep under the stars." I said dreamily. "That said, I am rather glad to be home so I can prevent this disaster before it comes." I gestured up and down before Maedhros with a frown. "Come, let us take a walk. Elrohir, Maglor, if you could find Thúlië and ensure she is well?"

"Of course. I will see you at home, love." Elrohir kissed my hand tenderly. I met his eyes and winked before taking Maedhros' arm decisively, pulling him with me.

"Why do you so accost me, Lady?" He asked curiously.

"I wanted to have a word with you, and to advise you to tread carefully."

"What could possibly instigate such a warning – for that is what it is."

"You're right, I shan't mince my words. Thúlië..." I began, and he sighed.

"You are better leaving the matter well alone, Litawen. If you come to tell me that she is uninterested in my advances then I am perfectly well aware. I was caught today staring, and please take my absolute assurance that I shall endeavour to ensure it does not happen again, for my own sake and for hers."

I blinked, closing my mouth with a snap of my teeth. "Well, you are both utterly ridiculous. She's the one who is rather insistent you have no interest in her. _This_ is why I must remain around you all at all times – good Valar, you cannot see what is right in front of you. Stalking her is not the way to show her how you feel, if you're not going to approach her to speak after the fact."

"She has seen me?" He gaped, clearly horrified.

"Of course she has – she has finely tuned senses for being our prey when we shoot. She knows when she is being watched!" I laughed, patting his arm. "Bless you both. I confess I did alert you all to our presence intentionally – I hoped to see what was in your heart and I think that I was right."

"Well, thank you for that. You are rather the meddlesome, troublesome creature. You have embarrassed your cousin, and now me, thoroughly."

"Mum has called me trouble since the day I was born and I have only had tutelage from the best – she and Glorfindel." I shrugged. "Thúlië will be fine – she did not hit me so I rather think she liked the moment to tease. You know her."

"That I do." He dipped his head again then, eyes upon the sand which we lightly trod upon. "I know not what to do. Decisions have usually come so easily to me and now I find myself at a loss. I spent too much time chasing those damned and cursed jewels to even consider such pleasantries as love."

"I know." I felt my heart heavy then, feeling his regret as if it were tangible in the air. "Tatharien's wedding is in but a few days – will you be coming?" He nodded once. "Good. Dance with her."

"I would make a fool of myself – I cannot ever hope to be so elegant a dancer as she." Maedhros looked apprehensive. "Mother always said I was too tall to dance well."

"And she thinks she makes a fool of herself whenever she speaks to you, so you can both be fools together trying to dance in absolute silence. Or you could just pick her up and carry her off – I doubt she would be opposed." I teased him and he stared at me before laughing outright – something that appeared to startle him.

"Oh, I do like you."

"Good, then for my sake will you please try to put Thúlië's mind at ease? She is tearing herself apart." I finally let myself fret for her, confident enough in his affections to be truly honest. "I love her as if she were my own sister and to see her hurting and so unsure pains me deeply. She is usually so boisterous and so confident, and to hear of her acting so shyly truly indicates just how she must feel."

"I did not know. I thought quite genuinely that she held little regard for me after all but bullying me into accepting Lady Bernadette's hand of friendship, for hope is so foreign to me. I must..." He looked towards the woods a little further from the cliffs and I held out a hand to stop him.

"You must wait. Do not rush in, but instead take time to be sure of your feelings." I began to caution him.

"I am certain of my heart." He said stubbornly and I sighed.

"Perhaps, but do not give her cause for alarm. Let things be as they will be. You will manage for six, whole days, I am sure. Do not make me have Elrohir or Mum drug you."

"You would not dare."

I blinked lazily, gazing up at him unwaveringly. "Wouldn't I?" I held his eyes until he seemed to cave in, nodding once. "Good. Turn back, go home, and get a little rest. Think about what you want to say and how you want to say it."

"Oh, and Maedhros? Remember who taught Thúlië to dance. You might be able to get a tip or two."

His retreating back paused for a moment, and he threw a dark glance over his shoulder before walking back along the beach. I held my breath for a moment as he paused again, and then his feet seemed to carry him away in a direction he seemed so unsure of. I felt relief as I saw where he went and my soul warm as I walked to my own home where Elrohir greeted me outside by the foot of the tree with open arms and a kiss that set my body alight.

"Is Thúlië well?" I murmured against his lips.

"Maglor has her, and has taken her to Benny's." He told me, silencing me soundly for a moment. "Where has Maedhros gone?" His lips drifted lower to caress my neck, his fingers teasing at the hem of my tunic.

I smiled as my head tilted back, and then sighed as his teeth gently nipped. "To Jade's. He went to Jade's."

"Good. Now, come upstairs. I have something to show you."

**xxxXxxx**

"So, something odd happened yesterday." I looked up from my writing desk at J who was stood in the doorway, hands on her hips. I carefully blew on the ink to dry it and then placed my almost-finished book carefully on the desk.

"Hmm?"

"Yes, Maedhros came by... asking for _dancing_ lessons. What do you know?"

"Things." I said vaguely, waving a hand for her to come in. "Tea?"

"Always." She said promptly, kicking the door behind her so that it mostly closed. "No, seriously Lita; spill. Believe it or not, if something is there I want to help it along. Amdiriel has currently decided that she does not need a man to ensure her happiness, so I need some hope that I will have grandchildren one day."

I snickered, pouring her tea and taking a little pity on her. "Why do I remain yet unsurprised?" I sighed then. "Tell her I told you and I will kill you with my bare hands."

"Of course." She said, completely unaffected by my threat. "So..."

I passed the mug to her, leaning over the counter as she did the same. "Thúlië is completely in love with him. Not besotted, not a fancy – she loves him. I saw it in her eyes and she is so forlorn for she cannot see equally that the affection could so easily be returned."

J whistled, bringing her tea to her lips. "Blimey, Glorfindel was right. He'll never let me live it down."

"I know." I pulled a face. "That said, he was also of the mind that Thúlië has no interest in him."

"I assume you partially corrected him on that score, seeing as he appeared at my house last night giving it all the front like a big man. Cocky as you like until I kicked him in the knee with one of my shoes." She snorted. "I told him if he kept it up I'd kick him a little higher, and he dropped the attitude."

"You know, it is a wonder anyone likes us at all when we insist upon kicking people in the knees." I laughed and she shrugged easily.

"I prefer to think of it as reminding them they aren't all that – we bring people back down to earth and pop a few inflated egos. That started with Benny and Haldir. Maedhros reminds me of what Benny used to say about him; he was full of his own self-importance."

"Ah, but Dad _was_ full of himself. Maedhros is not, it is just a front as he knows not how else to behave and he believes rather foolishly that it protects him." I explained.

"That he does." J laughed. "Not that it'll do him much good with our Thúlië."

"I'll drink to that." I chuckled darkly and tapped my cup to hers. "So, are you teaching him?"

"I am – every night this week. He'll be okay, but he _is_ rather tall for a dancer. He needs to learn to just let go of his inhibitions and then he can play to it. I mean, he did for a brief moment last night and he was beautiful, Lita, but then Glorfindel came in and ruined our flow completely." Jade grimaced and I huffed.

"Well, that is no good. Take him to Elrond's and dance there to keep everyone away."

"You know, I might do just that, thank you darling." She kissed my cheek, leaning further over the counter to do it. "It looks lovely in here, by the way. Elrohir did a beautiful job."

In my absence, Elrohir had become rather unsure of what to do with himself. Our home, whilst lovely, had not been quite designed to last as long as we had lived in it and needed a little love which we had been talking about for years but never managed to get around to. Whilst I was gone, he and my Father had worked to replace the roof, replace the floor and re-work some of the windows. He had even arranged for furnishings to be recovered or remade, and alongside that he had bought me a beautiful writing desk.

"_So you have somewhere to work on your scribing_." He had told me, and I had flung myself into his arms and shown him just how thankful I was for it.

"Yes, he did." I felt my cheeks heat a little as I remembered the rather heated thanks I had granted him. "I know not how I came to be so fortunate."

Her eyes sparkled as she caught my flush but she did not press upon it. "Oh no, he's the lucky one Litawen. You deserve the happiness he's brought to you, just as I'm sure Maedhros will for Thúlië. Or rather, perhaps it will be the other way around."

"I imagine it shall be, wife of mine. Here is where you are hiding!"

"Does no-one ever knock here? The door has become entirely superfluous." I rolled my eyes, pouring another mug of tea and placed it in his hands as Glorfindel crossed the room, gazing around the new furnishings, fresh paint and new boards that Elrohir had set.

"Privacy in this family is an illusion, and I have learned to accept this. What are you two gossiping about, or are you scheming?"

"Both." J tilted her face up as he kissed her briefly. "As well you know."

"Perhaps, perhaps." He admitted, assuming the same position. "I look forward to winning our wager."

"You will have to split it with Maglor – and remember, we are wagering on a proposal and not a romance." I reminded him. "I do not believe that is so sure a thing as you like to think just yet."

"True enough. He has not approached either of us on the subject and I know his upbringing will drive him to do so." Glorfindel mused, fingers drumming over the counter-top. "I still think I will be right – I have seen the way his eyes follow her about a room, and the twins tell me he follows them on tournaments simply to watch her."

"You knew that and you didn't tell me? You're an arse." J hit his arm with a little more force than necessary.

"I trust you will both keep your silence on this. Please? Maedhros and Thúlië do not need all eyes upon them as they seek that which may yet be between them." I begged and the two stopped bickering for a moment.

"Of course, Litawen." Glorfindel assured me. "It will not be an easy path for them, and you know how the older houses can place such unnecessary emphasis upon one's breeding. I can offer a little status, as can Benny, Tori and Legolas, which should help the match along, but should any more of their brothers return in the interim..."

Glorfindel trailed off and J grimaced. "Leave it out, you're being ridiculous. She's got more than a little status from you – you were the head of your house, were you not?"

"And then I died and Gondolin fell." He pointed out.

"Yes, and so did Maedhros! So if you think that your death affects your honours and titles, then surely it will affect his too? I mean, as if he doesn't feel like he's damned enough already. Frankly, it surprises me sometimes that you even speak to them."

"Benny is right on that score, Jade – there is no point in any hatred. If the Valar have released them then they must be at least content that they are sincerely sorry for their actions, and that they have been forgiven even if they do not forgive themselves. The weight of all that they have done will be upon them forever and I will not add any more to it when I see that they detest themselves quite enough."

"Well said, that man." Another voice came from the door and I glared.

"I am going to have Elrohir remove that door, there really is no point in it - everyone simply invites themselves in anyway. Tea, Aunty Tori?"

"Go on then." I made her tea, heating it up and adding a little honey – she preferred the brew sweet, though I could not stand it. "Bloody lovely."

"I'm glad you enjoy it. Oh, I have letters for you and Uncle Legolas." I snapped my fingers, going to my writing desk and pulling out the thick wads of paper.

"Oh, goody." She drawled, opening her own letter and scanning it before grimacing and folding it back up. "You know, sometimes I want to stick Thranduil through the eye with an arrow. His wife, however lovely that she may be, will drive me to insanity long before then."

"Kids again?" J gazed at her twin sympathetically as she nodded. "They can't make you if you're not ready."

"I know, it isn't like they can force us to have sex or something." She chuckled. "That said, I do wish she'd leave it be. We're happy – why can't we be childless and happy? Why does that make me a freak?"

"Cheers to childless and happy." I raised my mug and she did the same. "Ignore it, and if needs be I know a good cave you can hide with Uncle Legolas until they think you are dead."

"Thanks." Tori said drily, coming round to my side of the counter and lacing an arm around my waist. "None for you either?"

"_No_, thank you kindly. I so prefer being able to give them back at the end of a visit." I laughed, leaning against my Aunt. "Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Glorfindel, Thúlië and Maedhros will be fine."

"Bless them both, it's brilliant to watch them stumbling over each other." Tori gave me a squeeze. "So has she said she likes him then?"

"She loves him." I spoke the words tenderly. "Though he did not say the words directly I am also certain that he feels very much the same, so I think it would be best if for the moment we keep this between us and let things play out as they will."

"Agreed. I can't wait for the wedding." Tori looked genuinely excited. "I'm so glad for Tath, it's only taken them like 900 years. Jesus, that beats even Osellë and Orophin – I think that's the record."

"I think so. That said, I was looking forward to it, but now I get to stress over my dance student and my daughter. She had better appreciate this." She wagged a finger at Glorfindel held his hands up in defeat. "Say anything to her about it and you don't need to worry about Lita killing you, I'll get there first. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a lesson to prepare for and a dance to choreograph."

J swept out, dress fluttering behind her. Glorfindel looked after her, a gently amused smile upon his face. "Valar, but I love her – even when she threatens me with death."

I groaned. "Out, all of you, and if you happen across my husband tell him to return home to me as soon as he is able. I feel sorely in need of some romance of my own now you have all sickened me thoroughly." I shoved Tori away from me who was laughing, taking Glorfindel's arm and dragging him out.

"Have awesome sex!" She called out behind her in English, followed by an indignant cry when I was sure Glorfindel must have poked, shoved, or otherwise scolded her.

"You are so classy!" I shouted back at her.

"Hell yes I am... Ow! You are so dead, Glorfindel!"

I laughed outright, collecting their mugs with only a slight flush, and then made myself a fresh cup before sitting down at my desk again with a shake of my head. Only in our family.

**xxxXxxx**

"Oh Tath, you look absolutely beautiful." I sighed, watching her turn before me. Only Osellë, Mum and I remained – all other family sent on to town where they would bind in the square. She was swathed in a pale green with pearls highlighting here and there, a bashful smile upon her face at all the attention.

"About time, too!" Mum teased, finishing a final pin in her hair to draw it back from her face. "Are you ready?"

"Not at all." She confessed and I laughed, kissing her forehead. "I wish we could have done a smaller gathering. I do so hate the crowds and all eyes upon me."

"Sorry, but I'm afraid that's not going to happen in this family."

"No, Mum." I said fondly. "You all made sure to that. Now come, we really must depart and then we shall finally have you wed!" I took Tath's hand and she twirled below my arm, her dress fanning about her elegantly. "Miresgalon will not know where to look first!

In the warmth of the spring afternoon we walked, occasional passers by calling out their congratulations. As we neared the arches of the city I took Tath's hands again and pressed a kiss to each cheek, and Mum did the same.

"May the Valar be with you today and always, and may your love last until the ends of the earth. See you on the other side." I told her and Tatharien looked suspiciously misty-eyed before she waved us away.

"Go and take your places!" She laughed, Osellë taking her arm. I looped my own arm in hers as we quickly navigated the crowds waiting, looking for our respective partners. Father and Elrohir stood together with our amassed family all around us, waiting at last to unite families which had otherwise already been joined through my Mum's love for Nerwen, and Father's for Captain Taeglyn who stood with Miresgalon and Lord Elrond, who I knew would perform the ceremony.

Mir's eyes were glued to Tath right from the start, their heartfelt vows overflowing and so desperately full of love as they spoke them. I knew, just as my own had, their wedding feast would pass in a great blur and so I tried to cling on to as many details as I could after so I could tell Tath and remind her just as she had with me. When they had kissed before our family and all those who passed wishing us well a great cry came forth, and a song started by someone I did not recall came forth as the sun set and candles flickered as they were kindled to life.

"Beautiful." I wiped a tear from my eyes as they walked between us with faces alight with pure adoration. "I suppose I should go and set up with Mum and all the others." I indicated to where we would preform the first song of the night together – a tradition now at all the weddings of one of our own. A love song, simple and true rose from our united lips and souls as elves danced before us under the slowly emerging stars, as we had since we first gazed upon the world with new eyes. A gentle ripple of applause captured us, even from Mir and Tath, and I flew from the small corner of musicians to greet them both at last before they were swamped completely.

"Another gift we have for you – from Mum and Maglor themselves now." I turned and saw that he sat now at a great harp, Mum stood beside him, with her hands clasped before her. It was a song I had not ever heard before, and the gentle chatter died down as all about us listened. Mum sang of hope and love and a life full of joy, and that despite the changing of the seasons and the turning of the tide she sang of a love that always came together.

I saw Tath's eyes fill completely then before I too had to brush away a tear. Mum had written this for them with Maglor, I realised, for it contained those mixed but beautiful chords and such power that I knew it would stay with all those who heard it. Mum still remained a little embarrassed as she finished, stepping back and brushing a lock of hair behind her ear, and the applause that had been so gentle before was now a full swell as the true musicians for the night once more took their places in a joyous reel.

Tath took Mum's hands as she reached us, a kiss on each cheek, and the Mum welcomed Mir finally with a hug. "Just something for you. I'll give you the written copy later if you like. Now dance, and have a wonderful evening whilst I watch from a corner." She teased, before Dad took her hand away and stole her into a dance, their eyes then fixed together.

The night passed so filled with joy and laughter that I hadn't recalled in quite some time, despite our nights so usually raucous and brimming with general happiness. I eyed Maedhros still in a corner, dressed so elegantly in deep silver and black that seemed to make the flamelike quality of the hair about him stand out more that in the candlelight it fairly glowed. Elrohir caught where I was looking and laughed before pulling me away, lips upon my own as he all but manhandled my arms so that they were about his shoulders. I pulled away and let him guide me in a sweeping dance as we had on the day of our own wedding, and I heard a song that seemed to grasp at my memory just a little.

"This was played on the wedding day of your parents – Glorfindel told me once." Elrohir murmured, watching as Mum's face melted into an expression of adoration as her lips met Father's in a gentle kiss. "I hope we shall ever be as happy as they are now."

"I am certain we shall be." I ran my fingers through his hair, braided neatly and simply despite the elegant robes he wore. "I am certain... oh!"

I peered over Elrohir's shoulder and saw that Maedhros had taken hesitant steps through the crowd, most now at least rather merry for the wine, and cleared his throat from where Thúlië stood chattering animatedly with Ami and Elanor. Both pairs of brows shot up as he cleared his throat quietly and held his hand out to her – a small smile but for the genuine fear in his eyes.

Thúlië stared for just a moment before she reached out her own hand, a slight tremble in her fingertips as they gently brushed the palm of his hand. He seemed to notice and I watched as he drew her into the crowd, confident steps so that she was bound to follow. She looked so delicate before him where usually I thought of her as rather like a battle-axe, and then as he drew her into a close hold so that they were almost pressed together.

I watched as they danced, and Thúlië seemed to find her confidence moment by moment until she dared to speak. I could not hear her words but I did hear Maedhros' surprised laugh before he span her beneath his arm easily, and then in a sweeping motion she was lifted high up with her back curved and hands elegantly splayed above her. She dared to lean forward then as he still held her easily above him, and she kicked her feet playfully with a laugh as she tried to get him to put her down as her hands grasped his shoulders.

Maedhros seemed to say something which had her both blushing and infuriated, hitting his arm solidly and he mocked pain before he finally dropped her to her feet. He let her twirl before him before holding her again, her face full of laughter and a little of the exuberance I knew so well. I noted then his hands remained upon her back far more surely than they had before, and her hands still remained on his shoulders. Elrohir in his curiosity had guided us closer to them and I leaned my head on his shoulder with my eyes closed so that I did not appear to be eavesdropping quite so terribly as I was.

"Next time put me down then! I swear to the Valar, must I tell you everything twice? You are more stubborn than any I have ever met." She teased so easily.

"I did not want the moment to end." He confessed to her and I heard her gentle huff.

"Well, yes, but still." I cracked open an eye and I saw that instead of upon his shoulders, one hand had moved to rest against the side of his face. "You dance well."

"I had an excellent and highly recommended teacher. I confess that I am otherwise not much for dancing... but for with you, if you would have me."

"Well, you are rather tall... no, stop, what do you mean?" Thúlië spoke then, a tremor in her voice as she met his gaze. Their eyes were fixed, grey and blue, and I wondered if they would stay in that moment for all eternity. "What do you mean?"

"I have failed time after time where my heart is concerned, and I would not continue to do so. If your heart does not wish for the same as my own, if you hold no regard for me, then please speak plainly for I could not bear to remain so uncertain." His words were quiet then, one hand moving from her back to her neck, and Thúlië looked truly baffled.

"I do not understand. I was so certain that it was you who held no regard for m..." her words were silenced and I felt my face crack into a delighted smile as Maedhros stole a kiss from my cousin's lips, his hand drawing her head closer until he dared to part from her, breathless and with bright eyes. Her eyes remained closed still, her lips slightly parted and her chest rising and falling rapidly.

His head was low still so that her forehead touched his own. "Look at me, I beg this of you. I could not bear it if you fled from me once more as always you seem to do."

I watched her lashes flutter up until her eyes captured his again. "This is a dream." She informed Maedhros, her hand tracing his brow, cheek and nose. Finally she came to his lips and as she did so, he bit her thumb gently until she gasped outright.

"Then if it is a dream, we shall never wake and I will ever be content."

"This is not a dream, is it?" She asked then, her hand now more daringly combing through his hair.

"Not that I am aware of, though I am happy to bite you again if I must to convince you." He laughed at her meek question.

"I am not going mad?" Thúlië questioned, a little braver this time.

"Now, that is perhaps questionable if your tastes do so rest with me." Maedhros mocked her and she tugged a braid solidly with pursed lips. "However, for your own peace of mind I am certain you are not mad."

"So if I were to kiss you again, you would not disappear or flee as you have in my dreams?"

"Thúlië, hush your incessant babbling. Valar, do you ever rest?" His words were laced with humour despite their gentleness.

Elrohir grasped my chin and turned my eyes to meet his with that rolling fire that always seemed to rest just beneath the surface. "Come away, love."

His lips lingered on my own for a moment and I could taste the sweet wine that he had been drinking. Elrohir tugged my hand with a roguish look in his eye which had me entranced, but I could not resist one glance back at my cousin before we departed the festivities.

I was glad that I did so only as we left, for it was a moment so perfect I could not bear to watch it for long. Thúlië was upon flat feet still, her hands remaining in Maedhros' hair as they swayed together below the stars with a shared spellbound expression. I watched his mouth form words that I could only just hear, but they took my very breath away with how heartfelt, how sincere and how tinged with sadness they were.

"Forever; this I promise with all my heart. I will love you forever, and I will spend every moment trying to prove that I deserve your love in return if you would have me."

"You do not need to prove a thing, for I love you."

Maedhros' face changed completely. Thúlië's eyes closed and she stood upon the very tips of her toes so that she could reach his lips, their mouths came together again in a far more passionate encounter until he lifted her up, arms locked about her so that she now had to lean forward just a little to kiss him again.

Her hands held his face and she finally seemed to realise just what was happening, a smile blooming across her face before her head tipped back and she laughed. The sound was so sweet that it cut through the crowd and heads turned, but by the time they had found the source Thúlië was kissing him over and over. She was held easily in his arms and her hands tangled in his hair, the both of them oblivious to the looks and whispers which surrounded them.

"Come, Lita." Elrohir finally insisted, still indulgently permitting me to watch from our hidden spot. "You may hear their tales another day for I am absolutely certain she shall seek you out. Now, I find myself wishing for a moment with my wife where I might show her just how ardently I love her."

* * *

**Reviews, as always, sincerely appreciated. See you soon! **


	13. One Thousand and Twenty Six - Part 2

**Hi everyone, **

**First of all, thank you so much for your reviews. I love chatting to you and listening to your ideas, it's so much fun hearing what you think is happening so far!  
This chapter was inspired in part my a moment in my own childhood - me and my sisters were on a mission to recreate that iconic scene in Dirty Dancing. Safe to say, I was always the bottom as I have the strongest arms, and any attempt to try and balance ended up with me face-planting the water. **

**I hope you all enjoy this, and see you soon!**

**Lots of love, **

**MM -x**

* * *

"Grab her!" I cried and as one, Ami, Cal, Gel and I flung ourselves upon Thúlië who had rather steadfastly avoided us for the last few days. I muffled her shriek with my hand as we dragged her down to the floor and Amdiriel sat firmly on her legs so that she could not wriggle free. I held no malice towards her for her disappearance for the last few days, but Jade had mentioned she came home late and left so early that none had managed to hold her down for a true conversation since the wedding.

I recalled being rather the same when Elrohir and I had first met, before we had truly realised our feelings, and so I was intent on making sure she actually kept those of us who cared for her abreast of what was currently going on.

"I thank you, my brothers. I believe we can take it from here."

"You are most welcome, Lita." Callon gave my shoulder a squeeze. "Have fun, darling Thúlië, and know you brought this completely upon yourself."

She gave a howl below my hand which I ignored easily until she bit me. I swore, dragging my hand away. "Now there was no need for that, wild one." I scolded her and she glared at me.

"Nor was there any need to pin my down quite so ruthlessly, yet you seem to take great delight in doing so – all four of you. Callon, Gelluion, I rather thought better of you!"

"Perhaps, but on this occasion we did happen to agree with both Lita and Ami." Gelluion advised her gently. "Sometimes it is best to pull the arrow swiftly than let it alone to fester." He said pointedly, and I felt the fight finally leave her and her head dropped back into my lap with a thud. Her head tilted back and her eyes caught mine, an apologetic smile upon her lips.

"I suppose – I _am _sorry for biting you, my rather troublesome cousin. Now let me up and you can have at me as you will."

"And with that, our work here is done. Do not forget, dinner at Mum's tonight for the post-wedding comedown." Callon reminded me.

"Oh, is it already? We will of course be there, unless Elrohir has other plans. In which case, it shall just be me!" I watched as the two dark-haired men retreated and shook my head fondly before returning to look at Thúlië who still remained in my arms.

"So, you looked rather... enthralled at the wedding." I teased outright and she huffed playfully, folding her arms.

"Does privacy not exist in... no, forget that, for I know privacy is but an illusion."

"Mhmm." Ami hummed, clambering off her sister's legs to pull them into her lap. "Good kisser?"

"Excellent kisser." She finally admitted, her eyes creasing at the corner as she grinned. "I know you were hovering nearby, so you know the truth of the matter." She accused me as I ran my fingers through her hair.

"I would hear it from your own lips for I did not catch most of your conversation."

"It was all rather romantic, if you must know." Thúlië sighed. "I did not know he knew how to dance so well."

"That was likely my doing – I told him to dance with Jade in preparation." I admitted and her brows shot up.

"Well, thank you for that at least. Truly, most was said after you were gone and in the days following the wedding. We have so little been parted since then." Thúlië told us with a blush. "I suppose that was why you ambushed me?"

"It was, wild one." Ami nodded. "So, tell us what was said?"

"We let ourselves become accustomed to one another rather physically first, which has made it far less awkward." She said, her eyes slightly glazed. "We spoke of how we came to so misinterpret the heart of the other – and it is rather more his doing than mine. He sincerely feels that he does not deserve the love of any, be it romantic or platonic. I rather assured him it was not the case."

"I bet you did." I snickered and she frowned, thumping my thigh.

"Do not be crass. I love him, and he loves me."

"Ah, so shall we have a betrothal soon?" Ami looked deviously excited and Thúlië shrugged.

"I know not, nor do I particularly care at the moment. We are skilled enough together at hiding from watchful eyes to take our time and to make sure that it is the right path for us. I believe it is, but it will take him a little time I shouldn't wonder." She spoke so frankly about the whole thing it stunned me a little, and then my concern began to rise a little.

"I am so pleased for you, Thúlië, truly I am, but are you certain this is what you desire? The path will not be an easy one." Amdiriel beat me to it, worrying at her lip uncertainly. "I say this not out of concern for Maedhros being in any way improper, but your love has been captured so swiftly."

"I know it, but I have known this since my heart so treacherously lurched after him." Her words were tender as she sat up and turned to take my hand in one of her own, and Ami's in the other. "I love you both with all my heart, and I understand your fears. But Lita, is this not what you fought for with Elrohir? For equality and respect for all of us who now reside here in Aman? For us to choose who we would love and not to fear if love does not come upon us right away?" She looked pointedly at her sister who shrugged.

"I would be content without a man, regardless of any social norms. I am strong enough to manage..."

"For you are a woman capable of as much strength, thought and equality as any male, yes, we are aware." Thúlië snapped, only a little. "Do not belittle our choices to find our own mates."

"I do not." She said placidly, stroking Thúlië's hand in calming circles. "Calm your passions, sister-mine, for your happiness is essential to my heart."

"It is true." I nodded. "Too you know I am glad you have found love with him. We all are, but we will always worry for that is what our family does – we care deeply, and you know this."

Thúlië sighed, defeated a little. "I know, I truly do. I know that for both of you this may seem sudden, but please understand that it is not. Whilst you have been away, though we did not always speak, we were oft sharing similar company and I fell so completely for him that it made my very soul ache in its sweetness."

"Perhaps our distance over the winter months has caused some confusion, Thúlië, but this as not a possibility completely unknown to us." I felt my lips turn up a little as I caught Ami's eye. "I suspected something might come of your shared fiery dispositions the night we all got so unforgivably drunk. We only wished to hear it from you directly and I am now content." Ami's expression was as impish as my own as Thúlië stared between us, back and forth.

"Oh, for the sake of the Valar! You are both manipulative little witches. You made me think I had to defend myself when truly I simply wished to dance with the joy that is so freely in my heart." She scowled and Ami giggled, tugging at her sister's fair locks playfully.

"Ai, my little Thúlië, you do not always see what is directly before you. That is why we must sometimes do the seeing for you." Her eyes were warm. "I love you dearly, even when you do insist on teasing me something rotten about my lack of a mate."

"I know, I am sorry about that too. It seems I am out to hurt everyone today with my lack of thought." Thúlië stood, pulling us with her. "Now come, it has been a long time indeed since we last went sea-bathing and I think it is high time we do so now. I wish for us to do something together, and be the sisters that I know we are in my heart."

"Gods, we have not done that in so long..." Amdiriel looked pleased. "Come, it is a beautiful day and we should make the most of it."

Our afternoon was filled blissfully by the sea together, and I was into the water first in my under-shirt and breeches, arms completely bare. I felt someone pounce upon my back, pulling me down into the water and a delighted shriek from Thúlië indicated it was she. We swam out together a little further and I lifted her high above my head by the waist. She flung her legs and arms outward, her back curved, and for a moment it looked as if she were flying before she completely lost her balance and dived face-first into the water.

"Do it again!" I heard Ami shout from nearer the shore and so we did, this time far more successfully until she let herself fall back. I bobbed in the water, turning to wave at the other lady until at last she swam in. I got her to do the same for me, Thúlië trying with only some success to get me to hold myself above Amdiriel's head.

"Yes, yes, yes - hold it!" I heard her screech as I clenched my stomach muscles and raised up my shoulders. "Ai, Litawen! You have done it!" I jumped as high as I could in celebration before floating upon my back and kicking as hard as I could, spraying my cousins with water.

"Oh, how I wish Tath was here." I said as we floated together, absorbing the warmth of the sun whilst the cool water licked our backs. "We must do this again when she is less flustered from her binding."

"Mhmmm." Thúlië's hum was a pleasured one. "Her loss, she decided to get married after all."

"So will you, one day!" Amdiriel laughed, flicking water at her sister absently. "Come now Thúlië, you rather sound like me."

"You seem certain of that, but I was not aware you were a seer. Is this something you have learned from Lady Galadriel?" Thúlië shot back, and the two began bickering. I snorted to myself and pulled myself upright to swim towards the cliffs to dry out a little. I let my gaze wander absently and stopped as they fixed upon figures moving along the coastline, clearly fixed upon us.

"Do not look now, but we have an audience." I groaned but with a naughty look in my eye which I knew Amdiriel caught as she sat up. By the cliffs I saw Mum walking arm in arm with Dad, and then Maglor with Elrohir... and Maedhros.

"Oh... bollocks." Thúlië cursed succinctly, falling into the tongue of our parents as we often did when we wished to curse and gossip more freely. "Why did we not think to bring towelling or dry clothing?"

"I do not know. We may just have to suck it up, ladies." I winced. "Or wait until they pass."

"That is not going to happen, Benny has seen us. Oh, come on. I am certain Maedhros has had a good feel of you Thúlië, and you are married for goodness' sake!" Amdiriel stood tall, her hair heavy and wet about her.

"Perhaps he has." Thúlië blushed. "And perhaps the favour has been returned."

"Now on that I do not need to know any more." Ami said firmly but with laughter in her eyes. "Just do try to have a ceremony before you bind, hmm?"

"Oh, hush Amdiriel. He has far too much honour for that." She snipped playfully.

"True, that is true enough. Now, come, what are we going to do?" I interrupted their newest argument before it started and both groaned.

"We are just going to have to do this." Amdiriel seemed to resign herself to it and began to swim out towards the beach. Thúlië and I glanced at each other warily before following, stepping out of the water with our heads held high as we collected our things. I felt the slightly cool air kiss my skin and I wondered upon my judgement to wear only a thin vest with strings for sleeves, instead of a full under-shirt.

"Should have worn a proper shirt... Sodding bloody fool." I heard Thúlië curse as she was in the same position. "Oh, bugger and damnation! My boots are _soaked_." She cried, for whilst we played and talked the sea had come in further up the shore.

"As are mine... and yours, Litawen, I am so sorry." Amdiriel looked close to tears. "Oh, what an abysmal idea this was in the end."

"Stop it, I had so much fun and I know Lita did too." I nodded my agreement as Thúlië defended our afternoon. "I will take a little embarrassment for the happiness that I have seen upon both your faces, and felt within my own heart. So come, my darling cousins."

"Indeed." I said drily, and followed her as she marched up the steep stone steps. I caught my husband's eye, and he was smirking broadly at the three of us.

"Say anything and I _will_ shoot you, husband or no." I warned him frankly as I walked past, and he seemed to swallow his retort as I dumped my wet boots and outer tunic in his arms.

"Your bum looks dead sexy when you're all wet like that." I heard Mum drawl in her natural tongue and I turned with a blush to gesture rudely at her. Dad let a single brow rise, turning to look at Mum expectantly. "What? It does."

I was seriously considering killing her.

"Leave it alone, Litawen, you can murder Benny tonight!" Thúlië called her head still held high, and her hand reached out to take my own as she dragged me away. "Gentlemen." She bowed her head. "And Benny." She added as an afterthought, and dropped my hand once she was content I was moving again.

Maedhros's face was stony but for his eyes which met Thúlië's, an unsure quirk of his lips indicating his discomfort at the situation. She reached out one hand to brush against his just briefly and his fingers tightened around hers before he let her go again, eyes following her every move before I heard an undignified cry. We walked a little further down the cliffs as a three, not meeting one another's eyes until we were a good distance away. Thúlië's shoulders were trembling, and then finally she began to laugh until she was grasping her stomach and gasping for air.

"Well, that was mostly painless." Amdiriel tried to lighten the tone from behind me. "Though Benny did just punch Maedhros in the arm."

"Mum is an ass." I growled. "And so is Elrohir. Why do you find someone who is both honourable and handsome? Why do I get roguish and handsome?" I huffed and Thúlië slung an arm around my waist with another giggle.

"You love him because he _is_ roguish, just as you are when you set your mind to it."

"Perhaps." I groused, but felt my cheeks heat a little for I knew that she was right. "Come, let us bathe and dress. I feel my hair becoming quite stiff from the salt."

"A wonderful idea, Litawen." Amdiriel took my other arm. "Then we shall go to dinner at Benny's and hear some exaggerated tale of our antics, no doubt. Wear that deep blue dress you have, Thúlië – I think Maedhros would like it, and you shall need to distract him from Benny's glares."

"The one with the silver neckline? It is too elegant for dinner. I do have that soft tunic that Grandma Aurae made me, however – you know the one with the split sleeves?"

I listened to them chatter happily from either side of me as we stopped by our own houses to take our things, bathe and change. In a fit of unusual femininity, I selected a spring green dres with deeply draping pale sleeves and silver slippers. When I reached the bottom of my stairs Thúlië and Ami were waiting for me with bundles of their own, and I nodded.

"To the bath houses?"

"To the bath houses." Amdiriel confirmed, and together we went dripping wet and barefooted towards town.

**xxxXxxx**

Elrohir had cornered me as I came to Mum's that evening, sweeping me into the garden and kissing me so thoroughly it left me breathless. Though he said nothing, the way he held me rather spoke volumes and I let myself be swept up in his passion as I felt my back pressed against a tree and the weight of him held me there. He tore his lips away, eyes meeting my own for a moment before he grinned and wandered off, leaving me standing bereft of all good sense as my mind tried to catch up. The glance he threw over his shoulder held promise as he left me standing below one of the trees, hands on my hips with a dazed smile before I followed him in. I meandered the rooms for a while before heading towards the kitchen, only to stop in my tracks with a startled cry.

"Valar! I want to see a foot between you and no less by the time I remove my hand, and I shall pretend I did nor come across you." I hissed covering my eyes as I came across Maedhros and Thúlië in a rather heated exchange of their own. "House rules – kiss in the garden. Learn, and learn quickly."

"Duly noted my lady Litawen, I thank you." Maedhros said smoothly, looking the epitome of cool and collected when I removed my hand from my eyes. Thúlië looked remarkably embarrassed but I winked at her to show her I wasn't truly angry as her suitor walked away rather smugly. We followed him into the kitchen in a slightly amused silence, with nothing but slightly tousled hair and swollen lips to reveal our secrets

"Well, if he isn't a little full of himself." I muttered to her as Ami, Thúlië and I sat at one end of the table, sharing furtive glances and slight giggles at the occasionally awkward silences that had ensued every now and again at dinner between those of us who had been at the beach that afternoon. My brothers were completely oblivious, as were my Aunts and Grandparents, so they otherwise kept the conversation rolling and bounding around us.

"Elrohir looks no better." Ami scolded us and we both grinned guiltily at having our affections so openly displayed.

"Are you lonely, Ami? Would you like us to matchmake for you?" Thúlië taunted and her sister snorted, flicking her hair back behind her.

"I am perfectly content to be by myself – should love come to me I shall not scorn it, but I am more than capable of managing my life without a husband."

"I'm fairly certain I manage my husband, rather than the other way around." I said with a smirk, catching Elrohir's eye as he spoke with Maglor and Glorfindel. "I just wish to see you happy and I would not have you lonely. With companions such as ours I am certain we can find someone easily for you, and I _think_ Glorfindel was joking about Gil-galad."

"Well, that I do not doubt for a moment. Still, if love comes to me I will welcome it, but nor do I seek it and so I would thank you two meddling wenches to stay out of the whole business." Ami said as she nibbled thoughtfully on the crust of her bread.

"Have you even kissed anyone, Amdiriel?" I dared to question brashly.

"Not that it is any of your business, Litawen, but I have." She said smartly, rapping me across the nose with a crust of bread. "It was delightful and the elf and I considered courting, but it was not to be. Leave it alone."

"If you say so." I said under my breath, but clearly she caught it as she sent me an exasperated glare.

"I do say so. I rather love you two and Tatharien to be thinking of it, anyway. This afternoon was so much fun."

Mum had been listening to us gossiping and clearly finally lost it with a giggle, putting her bread down with a grin and resting her chin on her hand. "Does anyone notice the oliphaunt in the room? Yes? All right then; guess what I saw with Haldir, Maedhros, Maglor and Elrohir down at the beach today?"

"Thank the Valar." Dad muttered. "I thought I was going mad."

"Oh, come now! We were still mostly clothed, at least." Thúlië said reasonably and Glorfindel shot a sharp look towards his daughters who were refusing to look meek in any way.

"... and sodden. Very attractively sodden, I give, you, but soaked to the bone nonetheless." Elrohir added helpfully as he shot a charming grin at me.

"Oh God, please don't tell me..." J sank into her chair.

"Yep; apparently swimming was on the agenda. In vests and breeches alone. Now, when they came out, there were some _very _interesting looks exchanged by some parties." She looked pointedly between Thúlië and Maedhros who had the grace to look at least a little contrite.

"Oh, goody. You and I will be having a chat." J stared Maedhros down and he met her gaze equally.

"As you wish, my Lady."

"Not now, you will not. I suddenly have no desire to remain if you insist upon belittling us when we simply enjoyed an afternoon full of laughter and love and I assure you, there was nothing improper about any exchanges that were made. I thought we were rather a family who adored our closeness, but perhaps I was wrong." Thúlië stood with her chair clattering behind her, sweeping out of the room in long strides with her hair streaming.

"Well done, Benny." Legolas spoke up at last, dark brows raised up and blue eyes aglow. "You do so have a way with words."

"Indeed. If you would excuse me." Maedhros stood with a dark look at all of us, the bow of his head that was almost mocking. "Sometimes, you might think how your honesty might be interpreted."

Silence engulfed us all for a moment before J groaned and leaned on to Glorfindel's shoulder with a thud. "Where did she get that attitude from?"

"You." Everyone answered at once, even Amdiriel who was frowning a little. "Though I know not why she reacted quite so harshly."

"She is defensive, darling one." Glorfindel spoke. "She thinks we mean to pass judgement upon her choice of mate when it is not the case at all. Thúlië sometimes takes things rather too literally, when they should have been taken as teasing."

"Someone should go after them." I sighed, eyeing the door that Maedhros and Thúlië had escaped through. I wanted to make sure my cousin was well, but I was also aware that they were indeed courting and to be alone together would not be proper.

"You said it, so you own it." Mum retorted and I grimaced before standing, brushing off my dress for any crumbs. "If you see her, tell her we're sorry, will you?" I didn't acknowledge her words, walking to the door only to be stopped in my tracks by Maglor.

"I shall come with you, Litawen, for I would ensure that my brother does not further fuel her misinterpretation." He offered his arm to me and I took it, gesturing rudely at my Mum whilst his back was turned and she wrinkled her nose at me before I left. We walked the garden together quietly, keeping at a distance from the two who strolled hand-in-hand before us. "It is so strange to see his affection so easily open about him."

"Was he so very different... before?" I prompted.

"He both was, and yet not at all." Maglor said thoughtfully. "He was affectionate with his brothers and our family, and fierce in his passions as he is now. Yet if he ever looked at a lady twice I do not recall it."

"Were any of you married, if I might be so bold as to ask?"

Maglor waved his hand and I saw a slim gold band upon his finger that I had not noticed before in passing. "I married, though my wife faded as I did. Together we waited with Mandos, though for a reason yet unknown to me I was returned to form before she was."

"That must be difficult."

"At first it was the most painful thing I have ever known, even more so than the Silmaril that burned so fiercely my hands. With Elrond's care I began to accept things will be as they will be; for now I see that perhaps she is not yet ready, and I am now content to know that yet one day she will return to my heart and to my arms."

"Does it stir it a little when you see him with Thúlië?" I dared to ask and I saw his face twist into a slight grimace.

"I know I am a poor brother for saying that it does; but there you have it, as we are all imperfect creatures. Then again, it means far more to me that he has found happiness and I choose to focus on that rather than my melancholy."

"Sometimes it is best. All things will be as they will be, as you say, but I hope that she comes soon for you."

"I will know it when she does." I saw his free hand linger over his heart and absently I did the same, feeling the steady thrum of Elrohir's heart and his constant love that surrounded me. "Until then, it is best not to dwell upon those dreams, lest they engulf me completely."

We turned about the garden until I came upon my favourite tree, and I clambered up into it easily to find where our wards had disappeared to. I spotted them nearer to the woods, simply in an embrace together and talking quietly, and was content to let them be for now. I lowered myself down into a seated position, my legs swinging freely.

"I suppose you think you will win our wager?" I said from my position in the branches.

"I remain confident. He has six months not to make a complete hash of the whole ordeal – I am certain they shall fight and bicker a fair amount before then." I heard a sudden shriek from my cousin, followed by a rich laugh and then suspicious silence; I quickly turned and saw him reaching for her as she went to storm off, dragging her close with one arm and holding her fast. He seemed to be scolding her a little, and finally her head bowed as she nodded and he kissed her crown tenderly.

"Let us not forget he first kissed her whilst they argued about _fancying_ one another." I snickered to myself, watching as Thúlië disappeared off into the trees with a joyous cry, Maedhros following soon after with a rueful shake of his head. "He shall probably propose as they fight, too."

"You know, that is almost worth another wager." Maglor said thoughtfully and I rolled my eyes.

"Do not let Mum hear you say that, she'll think you're one of the family and any sense of privacy you have left will be completely destroyed."

"Hush, Benny knows I adore her and I have quite willingly become one of her flock." Maglor held a hand up to me and I took it, letting myself drop to the floor lightly. "I rather hoped to thank her for that, truth be told. Without her easy acceptance, Maedhros and I could never have hoped to find a place in Aman and I am certain we would have been outcast from our people ever more."

"What, thank her for being her usual, meddling self?" I teased as he took my arm again. "I am not chasing them, you know." I gestured to the trees where Thúlië and her love had disappeared, and Maglor shrugged elegantly.

"Nor I. I trust Maedhros implicitly – he will not hurt her. I have had to listen to him wax lyrical about her for too many months now whilst you and your cousin have been away, though he was a little unaware at first. You know he had convinced himself she held no affection for him?"

"I know it, for she said the very same to me – she was so certain that he did not see her." I shook my head disbelievingly. "Anyway, you were saying about Mum?"

"_Mum_, a strange colloquialism I fear I shall never truly become used to. That said, I hoped to thank her at least a little for all that she has done, be it unknowingly or not. I fear that my intuition would be correct and that she is not receptive to gifts; is it so?"

"It is, she's terrible. I have a book I have been working on for her and I genuinely know not how to grant it to her." I worried at my lip. "What thoughts have you?"

"I notice that oft she goes to Elrond's with her parents to play music within his halls. Whilst I know he enjoys it I also fear that she keeps much to herself , for there is a great deal of music she would not yet bring to these lands for fear of those overhearing who should not. I know that she has a harp already and a flute she makes ready use of, but I wonder that she would truly appreciate keyboard to play to her heart's content."

"She'll kill you." I said as honestly as I could manage without laughing. "And then cry for days."

"I thought as much." Maglor sighed. "Do you suppose moving it in and leaving it for her to find would be a possible resolution? I have already acquired it, you see, and I have no skill upon the instrument for the harp and lute are my tools."

"You are doomed." I informed him point-blank, and he looked a little down-hearted. I patted his arm gently and he seemed to accept that it would be a difficult gesture all around, no matter how he disguised it.

"I know it. Still, the Valar do love those who try. I will have it delivered and hope for the best." He looked up at the stars and smiled faintly. "I do so love the spring – the starts always seem clearer and their light more full."

"Yes. Often Elrohir and I sit upon the cliffs and watch the night pass into the sunrise, as if a great curtain is pulled away." He nodded in silent agreement as we strolled the garden still, not ready to return to the hustle and bustle of our family life. "Any idea how to introduce Mum to Gil-galad yet?" I asked suddenly as I pondered, and I saw Maglor's expression become terribly devious.

"She has already met him twice without knowing and seemed to enjoy his company quite well. I believe Elrond intends to have him at the next family dinner in his halls."

I chuckled drily but for a slight wince. "Well, keep hold of that keyboard for now my Lord Maglor. Once she realises your plots she will not forgive you for a very long time and you will need every weapon available to you to ensure her eventual submission."

Maglor's smile brightened rather dramatically. "What a splendid idea, Litawen. I knew I could count on you. Also, do you think Glorfindel was entirely serious about killing him and Amdiriel if anything came to pass? I understand she is so fiercely independent but I think that love would only increase her happiness, once she understands that she can yet experience love and be her own person besides."

"Do not." I warned him. "I do not think she yet sees it is possible to be equal in a marriage and still hold one's independence; though with a family such as ours I do not see how it has come to be so for we are all strong, and that you cannot deny. That said, that woman could teach stubbornness to rocks and if she suspects a hint of meddling and matchmaking, she shall disappear over the mountains with Elanor and we shall not see her again for hundreds of years."

"That, my dear Litawen, is why we do not get caught. In any case it does not need to be in any seriousness, for the chance to flirt and enjoy the innocent kisses of first courting is as necessary to our soul as air to our chest." He said rather poetically before he fell into a smirk again. "Now tell me, does she have any physical or intellectual preferences?"

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**Thank you for reading! Benny, as per, putting her foot in her mouth. Reviews, as always, are sincerely appreciated.**


	14. One Thousand and Twenty Six - Part 3

**Hi everyone! **

**As last chapter was a bit shorter, here's a sooner update for you! It wrote itself this weekend and demanded my attention, so I hope you enjoy it.  
Reviews make my day, and your feedback is always so amazing so thank you all :) **

**Lots of love, and enjoy! **

**MM -x**

* * *

_Dad and I walked along the cliffs, staying off the beach to save my pale dress from looking black about the hem – tonight was the night we would properly introduce Mum and Gil-galad and we were both rather tense. The hour passed far too quickly for my liking and then we were nearing Elrond's home where Celebrian waited at the door with open arms. _

"_Haldir, Litawen, welcome." She took my hands as Dad relinquished my arm. "It seems our little gathering has grown, for too my own Mother and Father have visited. I did not know to expect them." She looked nervous then, glancing towards the door. "Bernadette is yet in the garden with her sisters. I really do fear for how this is going to go." _

"_I shall leave you two ladies to worry out the details, and instead shall become reacquainted with the Lady and Lord Celeborn. Excuse me." He bowed his head and escaped into the house, leaving Celebrian and I stood together. _

"_This will not go well. I adore Bernadette, truly, but she has quite the temper." _

"_She does. I do not think she will kick up a fuss outwardly, at least not right away, but if she stays for dinner I will be very, very surprised." _

"_I hope we do not upset her too badly." _

"_Why not introduce her before dinner, so she has time and space to storm it off?" I suggested. "Perhaps leave it to Glorfindel and Elrond." _

"_She will feel like she is being attacked if we do so that way – I know how she feels a little on that score." The lady before me looked distant for a moment, and then shook her head. "Perhaps if we have you, Amdiriel and dear Thúlië with her she might reign in her passions just a little." _

"_Oh, and put me directly in the line of fire?" I huffed and Celebrian laughed just a little, taking my arm and leading me along the path to the gardens. "You had better stay with me, then." I said to her under my breath as I saw her sat on a bench, flute at her lips whilst J and Thúlië danced easily. Maedhros was sat by Mum, long legs stretched out before him with his ankles crossed as if daring his love to trip._

"_How is it, between Gil-galad and them?" _

"_Death has mellowed them all. I think they are willing to at least try and forget, even if they cannot truly forgive. Of all the seven, the two who have been returned to us did what they could to make amends I feel, and now most have become used to the idea the sentiment is generally echoed." _

"_That is rather sad." I mused, watching as Thúlië purposefully kicked Maedhros as she passed. His eyes narrowed and he stood, grabbing her by the waist easily as she twirled, and then she laughed easily before daring to reach down and kiss him. "They look so happy. Have you had in on the wager?" _

"_Oh yes." Celebrian looked suitably pleased. "I believe as Bernadette does – five years." _

"_I begin to think so too; you know both Glorfindel and Maglor believe it will be in the next three months?" I asked as I observed them together thoughtfully._

"_I think it will be close, but they shall miss it." She mused. "That aside; good evening Bernadette."_

"Hi, Celebrian... oh, Lita, you look lovely! I like your hair like that." She was happy and relaxed as she lowered her flute, grinning at me.

_I touched my hair self-consciously with a slight blush. "Dad did it for me; I was having some trouble for the humidity." _

"_Your Dad is surprisingly skilled when it comes to hair-braiding. I assume he is with the Lady?" She asked knowingly, her hand going to her own black locks that were mostly unconstrained about her._

"_Obviously." __I drawled in a startling mimic of the elf in question, earning a few chuckles. I felt Celebrian stiffen slightly and I squeezed her arm as slyly as I could before striking up a conversation that was innocent enough. "You have not played like that in some time, nor have I seen both of you two dance since Tath's wedding."_

_I nodded to J and Thúlië, the latter of whom was standing comfortably in Maedhros' arms, her back against his chest. I noted that it was rather protective – his face typically impassive but I saw the little extra tension in his arms that Thúlië too seemed to spot. Her eyes surreptitiously roamed until she seemed to fix her gaze on a spot behind us and to her credit, she gave nothing away except to stare at me long and hard. _

"_No, that's true. There has been a flurry of pregnancies so I've been busy – I think I've been at home to sleep, and that's it." She laughed, leaning back into the bench and crossing her legs beneath her. _

_I suddenly and rather desperately desired to abort this particular encounter, and I saw Celebrian's eyes close as she sensed her husband nearing. A hand at my waist indicated the nearing of my own love and I turned my head, letting his lips briefly linger against my own in greeting as Celebrian let me go at last. "__Deep breath; as if you were pulling an arrow." __I felt him murmur against my mouth and I nodded, squaring my shoulders. Battle-stations, indeed._

"_Mum, I am afraid we haven't quite been honest with you." _

_I saw her eyes drift over my shoulder and then her head cocked. "You are not one of the mob." She said flatly and I turned to greet the elf in question, bowing my head in a gesture of respect. "God damn it, you are all so fucking dead." She fell into her own tongue out of habit as she stood with her eyes ablaze. "No offence, it isn't your problem." She corrected, noting to speak in Sindarin to Gil-galad. "Lovely to meet you properly." _

"_I have not yet introduced myself." His brows rose, but she just rolled her eyes. _

"_Please, you don't need to – this has been in the works for the best part of what, six hundred years?" Her eyes turned on me as she approached me._

"_You know I detest being manipulated. Last time this happened I let it go, but sometimes you all take it too far. This is hurtful, Litawen, genuinely hurtful. I thought I raised you better than this." Her eyes, now shining green for the tears that threatened, swept over all of us who stood around her, each as tense. "I... I cannot believe you'd do this. All of you. You know I have a reason for everything and whilst you all might not like it or understand, I at least hoped you'd respect it. Especially you Lita, because you've always been my best friend as well as my daughter. I can't even... I can't even look at you. Excuse me. " _

_I felt myself flash cold, and I bit my lip as my eyes turned away from her. I knew that she did not truly mean it and that she simply wished to hurt someone as she had been hurt, and I had considered that it would likely be me, but Valar it hurt. I did not watch as she left, my head bowed as a tear escaped before I had a chance to stop it. "Valar, but she can be so spiteful." I said, trying to be cheerful despite it, only to feel like I was falling down a deep hole as the ground swallowed me. _

I sat up in bed just as I was about to land at the bottom of the pit, my dream so vivid I at first thought I had truly lived it. Beside me Elrohir stirred and blinked lazily before gazing up at me curiously.

"Love?" He queried as I ran my hands through my hair in agitation. "A dream, I suppose?"

"Yes, you know how they affect me." I began, and then realised that I sounded rather snappish and short so took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "You know... we are doing the right thing of course... are we not?" I queried, chewing on my lip and cheek nervously.

"Well, that was helpful. I mean to say, it would have been terrible if you had not explained yourself fully." Elrohir drawled with his arms behind his head and a smirk upon his lips.

"Oh, shut up." I took one of my pillows and hit him with it, nose wrinkling at his rather distasteful comment. I hugged the pillow to my knees and leaned into it as I thought. "I had a rather awful dream regarding dinner. I was with Dad, and we met your Mother and Lady Galadriel was there for some reason, which is absurd." I shook my head. "Anyway, she met Gil-galad and..." I choked then, wrapping my arms around myself for some semblance of protection as I shivered.

"Go on, Lita." He said soothingly, one hand reaching out to rub my back.

"Mum told me that I was an awful daughter for letting it happen and that she had raised me better than this. No love, hearken to me." I stopped him as he was about to speak. "Usually when I dream I can tell that they are false, but this seemed so real that I woke thinking it had truly happened. I know not if it is a message but I feel in my heart I must heed it. If I do not, I fear that we would set off one of her episodes as you know how it affects her when she feels she is manipulated and set upon."

Elrohir sat up, his hand on my back still. "Of course, Litawen. If your dreams speak so vividly perhaps we should listen – our wisdom is not infinite after all, and I would hate to be the cause of any further stress for her. With Grandmother there too... I would not be surprised then if we have an extra guest or two at dinner. Perhaps she knows of our plotting and seeks for us to reconsider. She knows more than any the hellishness that Benny suffered and remains still troubled by."

Mum suffered from what my Aunts called post-traumatic stress and at first I had not understood it nor the strange term they used, but Osellë in careful words had explained as best she could. It was more often found in warriors, she had said, but any might suffer it after any sort of serious incident as it became an affliction of the mind and of the spirit rather than the physical body. For Mum it was a haunting remnant from the attacks upon her mind and other incidents I knew Mum did not wish to speak of, including her death. It left her sometimes distrustful, occasionally a little paranoid, and she did not like to be startled or left in the metaphorical dark about anything. This plot could trigger any of those things within her.

"She has been so much better recently, and she is so very different than the lady that she was when first she met Maglor, but..." I stopped. "Aman has been wonderful to her, even with our earlier difficulties. She has been so busy of late with so many ladies due with children, I know that she may already be stretched a little thin. Perhaps too thin."

Elrohir nodded in understanding. "I agree, and it was perhaps ill-judged. If ever she might be prone to withdrawing and feeling as if the world were out to hurt her then it would be now. I will speak to Father and Glorfindel after breakfast so that they are abreast of the situation. What should we do instead? Glorfindel has said Gil-galad truly does wish to make her acquaintance, for little other reason than he is rather nosy and as Maedhros did, he wishes to know why we all so rally around her."

"Well, Maglor said that they have already met." I said with a laugh, letting Elrohir pull me back down to bed. "Once at Tatharien's wedding, though I know not what other occasion they crossed paths."

"I see; well, that makes it easier and keeps the blame entirely away from us. Simply go to her later, explain your dream, and that she has already met him. Oh!" His eyes brightened as an idea came to him. "I could remain entirely silent on the whole matter, and have Benny appear rather the wise and knowing lady by saying she was already well aware of whom he was. That would take a little wind out of their sails. Perhaps if they were rather genial towards one another from the start it would confuse all who expected her to have a... a moment." He phrased it delicately and I snorted, resting my head on his bare shoulder.

"Hit the roof, you mean." I grinned, pressing my lips to his skin. "Thank you, love." I said honestly.

"Hush, Lita." His lips lingered upon my forehead as his arms wrapped around me. "Sleep for now, and when the morning comes we shall prevent all madness from breaking loose."

**xxxXxxx**

"Mum?" I called out as I entered house from the arches in the front room and wandered to the kitchen, grinning when I saw her making bread and happily humming to herself.

"Morning, lovely." I rolled my sleeves up and took the ball of dough she held out to me as she greeted me, joining in with her rhythmic kneading. "So, what brings you up here?"

"I had a dream." I said nervously. "If you promise not to shout at me then I will tell you all."

She eyed me as if I were perhaps a little mad. "Lita, when have I ever shouted at you except when you were about to hurt yourself, or _did_ hurt yourself?" She said patiently and I nodded with a deep breath.

"True, I suppose. We were planning to introduce Gil-galad to you at dinner tonight." I said the words quickly in one breath before I lost my nerve. "Without telling you first."

Silence reigned whilst she absorbed the information, still kneading her bread methodically as she did so. Then, to my ultimate surprise, she chuckled a little and I sighed with unabashed relief.

"Well, that's not even slightly original." She said, lightly at first. "I thought you'd try something different than that! I'm assuming your dream was me taking this particularly badly?"

"You were so... so awful. You looked so ashamed of me and I felt it hurt right within my heart."

"Oh, darling." She stopped her movements and held out her arms to me, hands still covered in flour, and I let myself sink into her embrace. "Never, you hear me? I might get angry and swear, but I promise that not once would I ever dream of saying anything hurtful to you or to the twins. To _any _of you. Haldir is always there to handle that side of me, but it is so rare now anyway and he knows that I never mean it."

She held me tighter still and I finally cried a little as I had in my dream. "I would never be ashamed of you. I'm so bloody proud of you and for everything you've done, I couldn't even begin to think of a time I would be ashamed."

"It was so real, almost as if a vision came upon me. I could never hurt you, you know that?" I felt her whisper a quiet agreement against my head as she squeezed me and then let me go. "So, as such, I need to tell you the full truth. You have met him twice before, though he did not introduce himself and ensured that it would remain as natural as possible."

"...Oh." Her head tilted to one side, frowning. "Do you know when?"

"I know that once was at Tatharien's wedding. I know not the other occasion."

"Well, damn." She whistled, and then snapped her fingers. "I know when. Some random man came up to me and complimented out song; the one Maglor and I did. Tall and unusually broad for an elf, black hair, quite chatty; I bet it was him. I think I vaguely saw him once before in passing at Elrond's but... I was having a bad day. I'd been playing my heart out in his music room Elrohir, it was the day when we were remembering Arwen. Then Maedhros happened and I totally forgot about it."

"Oh, I see." I said quietly, kneading again. "So... so you are not upset with me?"

She blinked, clearly confused. "Why would I be upset? I've been expecting this for a little while, honestly, and I think I'm as ready as I will ever really be. I'm not even going to pretend I understand why the last High King of the Noldor in Middle Earth is interested in me, but I may as well just deal with it. If you'd sprung him on me I'd have probably had a bit of a moment, but I'd never, _ever_ say anything to you like that."

I felt the tremors in my stomach finally begin to subside and I took a deep breath to calm myself properly before giggling at last. Before I knew what was happening, a puff of flour exploded in my face and I coughed before looking at Mum who was kneading innocently. I frowned and grabbed a handful of my own flour, diving upon her and rubbing it all in her hair.

"Oh, you are _so_ dead." She growled, and so ensued one of the biggest mornings of silliness I had experienced in many hundreds of years. Once we had exhausted ourselves we baked, and then Mum had me explain my dream in full as we sat down with the spoils of our kitchen-war.

"Lita, is everything well... oh Valar." Elrohir knocked on the door to the kitchen and stopped dead as he saw us both sat on the floor eating the bread we had managed to salvage and bake, still covered in the flour and dough that littered almost every surface. We both looked at him as one, and I saw a muscle under his eye twitch. "You look terrifyingly similar when you do that. Stop it."

"Don't think you're safe. I know you're in on it and even if you're not, you're totally getting it until I can get my hands on Glorfindel, Maglor and your Father." Mum told him frankly.

"Lovely." He winced. "I went to Father's, and who do you suppose I came across? My Grandmother."

"Really?" I asked him, and then blushed. "Do you suppose it was she who sent my dream, then?"

"Well she says not, but she is an excellent liar when she wishes to be and devious enough to think about doing so." He sat on the floor by my side and helped himself to some of the bread and cheese. "She thinks it was your conscience telling you that it was perhaps not the necessary course."

"I totally think meddling. You're all so bloody good at it, it has to be genetic."

"If you say so." Elrohir said drily. "Did Litawen tell you of our idea?"

"Noooo?" She drew the syllable out until I hit her in the arm. "Seriously though, what idea?"

"Well, I went primarily to see Gil-galad, but also to hunt and see if there were any wagers. There are, by the way; none in your favour which is what I hoped. Some think you will cry, others think you will get rather angry and storm off, and some have said they think you will hit Glorfindel."

"Well, nice to know you all think so highly of me." She pouted. "I can understand it though, I suppose."

"Indeed. That aside, my thought was that you and Gil-galad could instead wind them up rather thoroughly by being perfectly civil." Elrohir proposed, and to my delight Mum did seem decidedly interested in the idea.

"Now, there's something fun. I bet I could have Haldir make a wager on it, and it would be so unlikely he'd win everyone would laugh him off. Then I can have all the money and split it with said ex-High King."

"He already has in on you punching Glorfindel, I regret to advise you." Elrohir said with a wince.

"He's dead, and can kiss goodbye to his sex life. Okay, who does not currently have a wager?" Mum said easily, a naughty look in her eye as she threatened now easily where before she would have blushed and stuttered.

"You are cruel and unusual in your punishments. As for the wager, Mother was yet to make a call so I have kindly asked she make it for you, as I hoped that we might have in mind the same plan." He paused, glancing around the room with slight distaste. "I did not expect your house and yourself to be in quite the state though, for the elf in question waits just down the path. I will of course distract him for now so you can bathe, if you like?"

"Is he? Oh, sod it, don't worry about it." She waved a hand, standing and wiping her hands on her apron before taking it off. "Come on then, seeing as I've already met the guy anyway it can't possibly get any more awkward, and it gives us a talking point and even an in-joke. We should bathe though, trouble." She eyed me with a sigh. "Let me just get some things, then we can walk and talk."

"Get me some too!" I called to her and she waved a hand in recognition as she reached the door and clambered the stairs. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" I said nervously.

"Litawen, stop." His hands grasped my face and his eyes searched my own in earnest. "All will be well. Let us have a little fun, for it has been so long since I have had a chance to play such a trick upon my own kin."

"I suppose." I let him help me to stand and desperately tried to clean as much flour as I could from my tunic and breeches before giving up. "How embarrassing." I muttered with a blush as Mum appeared again in the doorway with a small bundle for me.

"Not as embarrassing as the whole debacle after the wedding by the sea." She pointed out. "Your vest was mostly see-through, so at least you're covered. It's only a bit of flour."

"Yes, thank you for that." I glared at her darkly. "March, you insufferable woman." I shooed her forwards and she grinned before doing just that, her hair whipping behind her as she laughed outright. Elrohir caught be by the waist and stole a kiss from me before dusting off my face a little with a grin. I rolled my eyes and dared to rub my hands, still floury and doughy, upon his tunic and he narrowed his eyes at me.

"You are an evil woman, love." He tugged me forward. "Come, Benny will have found Gil-galad by now and she is clearly in one of _those_ moods."

Found him she had. "You can call me Benny, and I'd offer to shake your hand but as you can see, I'm covered in flour - long story. I understand we have a little havoc to wreak? Thanks for not introducing yourself properly at the wedding, by the way."

I heard her voice as she encountered Gil-galad on the path – his face was a picture of utter confusion and wry amusement as he was bombarded by the whirlwind that was my Mother. "Apparently so, though it appears you are quite content to do that without any other assistance. Gil-galad at your service, though I somehow doubt now that you require it." She rolled her eyes as she walked past him, and then turned back to gesture for him to follow before she paused.

"I'm so sorry, I just realised you genuinely might have no idea." She said pityingly, and her concern for him did indeed seem to be genuine. "How many members of my family have you actually met?"

"I have met the Lady Jade in the past very briefly, but I confess only otherwise those elves not directly related to you by blood and certainly none of their offspring."

"Jesus wept; it's almost as bad as Maedhros' introduction." She said under her breath, rubbing her eyes before sighing. "Okay, tonight will be fun indeed and you'll need allies. I'd firstly like you to meet my daughter, Litawen." He turned to look behind and I waved awkwardly, an uncertain smile upon my face.

"Good afternoon." I greeted with a bow of my head. "I look forward to making your acquaintance far better when I look a little less... pale."

The dark haired elf laughed then, head falling forward a little as he shook it ruefully. "The pleasure is mine, I am absolutely certain. You know, I had thought the tales of you were a little exaggerated from both Elrond and Glorfindel, but perhaps I was incorrect."

Mum looked up at him then with a slightly wicked grin. "Oh, believe me – they're likely to have watered it down so as not to scare you off. Have you heard their wagers on this whole debacle?"

He frowned then, black brows drawing close. "I did not know of any wagers."

"Whoops?" She looked a little guilty then. "What were Thúlië's five points about the family again, Lita?" She beckoned me forward and I took Elrohir's hand, bringing him with me for a little moral support.

"The first is that we have no secrets from one another so we have very little privacy, and we are rather honest with each other until it almost becomes brutal. The next is that we enjoy a good wager and if there is not one on the go then it is your turn to think of one. The third is that my Mum is usually right about everything." I eyed her with a giggle as she nodded, slightly smug. "And she certainly knows it. Four is that we do nothing by half, and so we come to five; no better family could we ever hope to be a part of despite our strange, mismatched components."

"That includes people Benny somehow comes to adopt too." Elrohir said with fondness for the lady beside me who blushed.

"Yes, thank you, enough of that. We do wagers, and apparently my entire family seem to think I am either going to storm off, cry, or hit Glorfindel. I'm still debating if I should be insulted."

"I would dearly pay to see you try the last." Gil-galad said with wry humour.

"It would not be the first time." I said drily before Mum could say anything, and she looked slightly abashed. "If you expect that he is in any way listened to by anyone or taken at all seriously, you are rather sorely mistaken. Between us all, titles and honours mean very little."

"I confess that does surprise me a little." Gil-galad said curiously, and Benny shook her head.

"I can see what you mean, but when Lita says mismatched, we _mean _mismatched; balladic heroes, a prince, outcast high elves, damaged ladies, warriors, and five elves who died twice is an overly-simplistic evaluation but nonetheless, it's true. This is why we put the titles aside – we give each other room to be precisely who we are, with no expectations. Odd though it might seem, it works."

"Do any escape such familiar bonds?" Gil-galad tilted his head, and I could see his uncertainty about the whole ordeal etched across his face.

"To a point. Don't think that we have no respect for each other because it's the exact opposite – I realised how badly that came out." Mum quickly added. "Celebrian and Elrond I have tremendous respect for, as I do for Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn. Celebrian chose to throw herself into the madness head-first, but the rest take a little bit of distance. Speaking of the very lady; I think it's about time we get to the matter at hand, as you'll understand how we work tonight at dinner fairly quickly."

"Ah yes, this little get together. It seems that simple friendliness would startle them and so we can certainly do that with ease and familiarity. I am sorry for not introducing myself at the Lady Tatharien's marriage; I was uncertain as to how you might respond after years of indirect refusals."

"About that - please don't think I ever meant to insult you. I sometimes have a crisis of confidence after... everything. I needed time to come to terms with a lot of things, and though it's much better now than it was I sometimes panic even now." Her eyes became clouded.

Gil-galad seemed to notice the change in her, as I had with some concern, and I saw him meet her eyes, grey on green. "I rather expect I might know a little of that, my Lady."

"I suppose you do. It seems I'm surrounded by people more and more who seem to know just how it feels." Her smile was slightly wan then before she shook her head, clearing the darkness away. "Hence why it's good for us all just to be equals, you see?"

"I do; however unexpectedly, I do believe that I see. Do you know, it would be rather... Enjoyable to see Elrond's face if we did so happen to arrive together."

Mum stared at him, face slightly slack, and then her eyes creased as she laughed out loud. "Go on then, let's see just quite how much we can shock them all. We usually go there for eight and it takes about twenty minutes to walk through town from here."

"In that case, we shall have to be just a little late to ensure our impact is unanimous."

"Excellent, that sounds absolutely perfect to me – I'll be ready. Now if you fine gentlemen don't mind, trouble and I are covered in flour and the dough is starting to become solid so I'd like to bathe. It's lovely to meet you finally." She smiled brightly at Gil-galad who bowed his head.

"And you, my Lady. Lady Litawen, a pleasure it has been also, brief though it has been." It seemed to me that all of the great elves in our company seemed to know how to be entirely too charming and I could not stop my smile and brief curtsey whilst Mum headed on down the path.

"I thank you, my Lord, and I hope that you are not too startled by her." I gestured to Mum who was humming and twirling happily down the path.

"A little, but I think she is rather charming regardless. I see now why so many seek to know her. She is so easily open despite the slight darkness that still clouds her, and it is refreshing."

"Do not let her hear you say that, for she does not like compliments and does sometimes think very little of herself. She is poor at best with a bow and so would manage to make it look like an accident." I grinned to show it was meant only in jest. "I shall leave you now with Elrohir, who I am certain can introduce you to my Dad, Captain Haldir. Seeing as he wagered on Mum punching Glorfindel, I would strongly suggest keeping the truth of the matter a secret."

"What matter? I have yet to meet properly the Lady Bernadette with whom everyone seems so enamoured." Gil-galad said with a completely straight face, and from down the path I heard Mum laugh outright again.

"Come _on_, Litawen!" She called, and I curtsied once more before I made my way down the path, taking her arm easily.

"I'm totally adopting him. What do you reckon, wager on Amdiriel?" She said to me in English and I heard Elrohir laughing as he caught what Mum said, and then half-explained that we used a different language without mentioning quite what we said.

"Leave it be, Mum. Maglor is already plotting, and he needs no assistance. She is truly happy as she is and it should not be forced."

"My little freedom fighter." She laughed, leaning against me. "Well, come on. I feel crusty."

"You_ look _crusty." I peeled a bit of dried dough from her tunic with a tut, and she grinned again before dragging me along.

**xxxXxxx**

Dinner had been a riot and a half, and even now as I sat in the great gardens around Elrond's hall I could not believe just how perfectly it had gone.

When I had arrived all were fretting about the whole ordeal – not least of all Osellë who had been preaching that she would be the one picking up the pieces. Elrohir and I arrived last but for Mum, who I assured everyone was on her way as I gratefully took a glass of wine from a knowing Celebrian.

"You are only going to cause trouble, Litawen." She warned me quietly. "They will find another way to tease her, you know this."

"I know, but I hope it shall be something a little less cruel. Does Lady Galadriel come this evening?" I asked and Celebrian nodded with a gesture to the gardens.

"They walk together in the gardens where tonight we shall eat, for the summer air is agreeable indeed." She gestured for us all to follow in turn but I hung back just a little to capture Elrohir's hand in my own. He brought it to his lips and I heard his words as his mouth moved against my skin.

"Calm down, Litawen." Elrohir's eyes bored into my own, silvery blue in the fading evening light and full of mirth.

"Come on, you two!" Tori called from the door, gesturing for us to follow with a wink. "Show's about to start, after all."

Elrohir and I shared a somewhat ambiguous glance before we followed Tori out into the garden, and I let myself become absorbed in the simple goodness of the evening. I noted that both Maglor and Maedhros were keeping a considerable distance away, the latter stony-faced and silent but for the moments when Thúlië stole him away. Elrohir's breath came out in a sharp puff before he went to speak to the two of them, and I instead perched upon a chair at the end of the table set for a light dinner.

_I suppose you think I had a little to do with your change of heart this evening? _I felt Galadriel's voice in my mind even as she spoke at length to Glorfindel. I tried to form a thought – an agreement, and I heard her chime-like laughter on the wind.

_In this I had no part – it was but your own mind and a touch of foresight to remind you that not all plots and ploys go well, even if kindly meant. _

I accepted her gentle admonishment and smiled faintly, watching as Maedhros let a blissful Thúlië spin beneath his arm then dragged her into a tender kiss before letting her fly off to J again.

"I suppose you know where your Mother is?" A voice interrupted my people-watching and the half-conversation I was having with the Lady.

"Mhmm." I heard then Mum's laugh as she rounded the corner, arm in arm with Gil-galad. She had clearly dressed for the occasion – a delicate silver circlet at her brow and a lilac summer dress that danced in the breeze. To my amusement, he looked rather similar with hair as black as her own and a tunic richly embellished – so alike did they appear in that moment that they could pass for family of blood, not simply by friendship.

They passed into the garden with little thought for the slack-jawed expressions that followed them from some, the open humour from others, but instead paused by Elrond who looked heartily confused.

"Good evening, Lord Elrond. Gil-galad, I'll leave you here, as I'm dying for a glass of wine."

She said as demurely as she could manage, and her companion bowed his head as she briefly curtseyed.

"Of course, Benny, and thank you for your company – it is rather better now you no longer look so wizened with flour. Lady Litawen, the same of course to you!" He dared to joke and Mum rolled her eyes, flicking her hair back and veritably flouncing over to where Father and I stood as I waved his jibe away. "Elrond, are you quite well?" He asked jovially, and I shared a smirk with Mum at his easy

"Litawen, you look beautiful." She reached out her hands to me and I took them as I stood, a mischievous look upon my face as Father stared between the two of us with a single raised brow.

"... Not even a little anger?" He prompted, and I was certain he almost looked hopeful.

"You are going to find yourself in a little bit of a dry spell, Haldir; I'm not even kidding." She said under her breath as she swatted him rather solidly on the arm. "Betting against your own _wife_? You suck. Come on, Lita." She took my arm again and we left Dad standing, hopelessly befuddled and rubbing his arm, as we greeted Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn together.

"I do so hope you enjoyed yourself, Bernadette." Lord Celeborn said and his tone was slightly mocking as he did so. "A thousand years have yet passed, and havoc seems to follow you wherever you happen to roam as it did across the sea."

"Always a pleasure to wind up Haldir. How are you both?" Mum began, but stopped as we heard an explosion of temper behind us.

"Really? That's really it? I don't understand what the hell just happened!" Tori cried, and the moment she broke the silence equal moans of dissent echoed in the garden but for Elrohir, Gil-galad, Mum who all grinned shamelessly. "Damn it, you knew about the wager didn't you?"

"I shall gladly take my winnings, if you please." Celebrian held out her hand and with a grumble, all came forward to pay her including Elrond who was still a little too shocked to speak.

"Did I break him?" Mum asked then, suddenly worried, and Lady Galadriel laughed from beside us, shaking her head.

"Ah, I am indeed glad I felt such a desire to visit our kin. One's soul always feels a little lighter when around such colourful and pleasant company." I saw her eyes flick to Maedhros who was now with Thúlië again, his sullen expression broken as she pulled him into the mass of elves now placing coins in Celebrian's hands.

"I do not understand it – you are all quite mad." Lord Celeborn's brows were drawn then as he watched the meandering elves. "If you will permit my absence, I must speak to Elrond." He bowed to the three of us and quickly escaped, clasping Elrond's and then Gil-galad's arms in greeting.

"Ah, such fun." Mum gazed around the mass of elves come together in love and in celebration, including Tatharien, Miresgalon and Amdiriel as well as Rumil, who had come over the mountains with the Lord and Lady.

Galadriel's eyes followed the same path from Thúlië and Maedhros, to a helplessly frustrated Maglor, the baffled faces of my Father, Legolas and Orophin, and an exasperated looking Glorfindel who now lingered with Elrond, Gil-galad and Celeborn. "I find myself in agreement with you, Bernadette. Indeed, I think such happiness as we come to find here is rather richly deserved."

"Yes, well if someone could remind Maglor and Maedhros of that we'd all find it a little easier." I mumbled, mostly to myself but Mum caught my words and frowned as I nodded for her to look over her shoulder.

"Are you kidding?" Mum spun and saw that they had retreated again to a corner and she became aggravated once more. "Excuse me, I've got some adopted family to give a bit of a kick." She quickly bowed her head and then crossed the garden in long strides. I chuckled outright as the two brothers almost seemed to cower before her short frame; their height was no match for the towering force of her love, nor her righteous anger on their behalf as she defended them.

"Just _what_ do you two think you are doing? I thought we were well past this nonsense. Come on, we're playing whatever music we can manage and Maedhros, for the love of all that is holy, go be with Thúlië before I smack you too."

"Only Mother could have two elves of such prominence shrinking back as if children again. Queen Bernadette; long may she reign." I quipped, and beside me I heard the Lady's laughter once more as I took a sip of my wine.

"She has ever had a way about her." Galadriel agreed. "I wonder perhaps if we are able to coax more of these dreams from you, Litawen. Have ever such dreams come to you before?"

"Once or twice, my Lady." I confirmed. "I dreamt of my brothers and I grown when Mother was still due with them. The incident came to pass many hundreds of years later and I prevented Callon from becoming seriously injured whilst we hunted, taking the fall instead of him. Then of course, when I met Elrohir I knew..." I trailed off, ceasing my ramblings as I realised how utterly ridiculous I sounded. "No, I am sure they are just dreams. My conscience, as you have said."

"Perhaps, or perhaps not. We shall see." She mused, before watching over our family again. "This family is a blessed one, by the Valar themselves."

"It is." I raised my glass as I caught Elrohir's eye across the garden, and he did the same with his eyes so full of love. "It certainly is."

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	15. Litawen at One Thousand and Thirty Two

**Hi everyone! **

**I'm sorry for the delay – this week has been a rather hellish one and so it took me a bit of time to get this update finished off. **

**My recent reviews have been so lovely, so thank you all. They mean so much to me that you can't really understand it – the way you are sticking with so many original characters really does amaze me sometimes. I don't think my little attempts at writing deserve you! **

**Read, enjoy, and hopefully laugh along. I did chuckle to myself writing this, I will confess. **

**Lots of love (and I promise a quicker update after this, as the chapter is written)**

**MM -x**

* * *

I wandered the woods, bow in hand, in a semblance of hunting when really I needed a little time to myself to think. The few years since Tatharien's wedding had passed in a blur and I found that I needed the space and clear air to ground myself once more. Not for the first time, Celebrian had been hinting at children and I felt such guilt that I yet had no desire to become a Mother – far more pressing were the matters of my family and the occasional rather realistic dream I experienced, and so they were taking a monopoly on my time.

It wasn't that I did not wish to be a parent at all – far from it. The time simply did not sit well with me, and night after night I pressed my hands to my stomach trying to imagine a child within it. The thought made me feel uneasy, and then the guilt returned until Elrohir awoke to me sobbing into my pillow. Gently, coaxingly, he had drawn out of me the reason for my tears and then had nodded in simple understanding as he held me.

"All is well, you know." He said soothingly, stroking a brush carefully through my curls that he had dampened with water to tame them. "I know that you are not ready, and nor am I quite frankly."

"Truly?" I turned, looking up at him with hope in my eyes and he laughed, leaning down to capture my lips.

"Truly, and do not let my Mother bully you into thinking otherwise. She missed her first grandchildren and I know that she would adore more. One day she will have them, I am certain, but she had best sit back and let fate have us as it will." He turned me around again and carefully pulled back sections of my hair into neat braids. "I will speak to her, and ensure she leaves it well alone."

"Thank you." I said gratefully and with no small amount of relief. I smiled, remembering his gentle assurances in the night and the warmth of his arms before he all but threw my bow at me, my wits only just coming to me in time to catch it.

"The pleasure will be mine, I am certain." He said drily as I stood. "Now go and do something, Litawen, before you drive me quite mad."

"Oh, I like that! You are so charming." I teased, prodding him with an arrow from my quiver as I strapped it about me. He snatched it from my fingers and held it high above him so that even if I jumped, it was just a little out of my reach.

"Ah, and so my miniature huntress is bested at last!" Elrohir taunted and I frowned before jumping up again, using his shoulder to boost my flight so that I grabbed the arrow neatly.

"Never." I waved the arrow-head in his face. "You are such an ass sometimes, I swear."

"Go." He laughed, giving me a push from the door. "Do not be too late, Benny invited us for dinner. I think that she is plotting on how to ensure Maedhros and Thúlië's betrothal."

"Oh, she doesn't need to plot. She has already lost the wager a year ago, but I am certain I shall win it." I said with a laugh before I caught myself, and Elrohir stared at me as if I had grown another head.

"I beg your pardon?" He circled me like a vulture about it's prey and I felt both his love and his concern for me weaving around my heart.

"I had a dream about it a few weeks ago." I admitted finally with a grimace, knowing what would come next. "Do not even start that, Elrohir, it was a good dream! I did not when it was but I saw where they stood – within the woods nearby - and it felt very near. Thúlië started it." I commented as I pulled on my boots, and Elrohir's gaze sharpened.

"You really should speak to my Grandmother about these dreams Litawen. They come more and more frequently and I am certain she would hope to harness them; for your own benefit if nothing else." He called as I went to the door, and I shrugged. "If your mind is open already to such things, you do not know what else you may be able to have it do."

"Perhaps, but I would not seek to bother her." I told him firmly. "She speaks to me when she can, and for that I am thankful."

"You are about as pig-headed as your Mother, I swear to the Valar. Why did I marry you, hmm? Will you listen to me? No, of course you will not." I chuckled then, leaving him to his ranting and raving which continued even as it left my earshot completely

Now I was deep in my own mind and in the woods, the conversation in the morning seeming so very distant. I had not yet sought out any creatures to hunt, as simply strolling through the woods was doing wonders for my state of mind until I felt calm and relaxed once more. The hiss of voices drew me from my reverie and I flattened myself against a tree, willing my heart to cease its racing. Only a few words in and recognition slammed into my chest and I felt my smile begin to bloom as I realised just what was happening only a few paces away from where I was hidden.

"Well then bugger to the lot of them! If we wish to wed then we will, and nothing can stop that." Thúlië's voice was surprisingly serene and rather tender as she spoke, clearly to Maedhros.

"It will make a scene. Many believe that I do not deserve the happiness I have found with you and I _will not lose it_, do you hear me? I will not lose it." He swore - his words as fierce and in my mind's eye I saw his expression, exactly as I dreamt it.

"You are going to lose it if you do not make a decision, Maedhros. You know that I wish for you, and only you, until the end of time; but at this moment I do not know if you wish for the same and that tears me apart." Her words, so calm before, tore into me and I closed my eyes, my dream coming to life before me word for word, sob for agonising sob until I too wanted to cry.

"You know that I do. Nothing else could I possibly wish for! How can you even..." I heard the thud of fist against bark and I winced as I knew that he had punched a tree solidly. "Since the moment when first you claimed my heart and I dared at last to dance with you, I have wanted nothing else. Valar, I have carried these with me every day after."

I heard a quiet gasp and the chink of delicate metal against metal. "Oh, Maedhros, they are beautiful."

"You see! Do you see now? Gods Thúlië, I love you more than my life is worth but can you imagine what would happen if we announced our betrothal, had a feast?"

"I know that, love. I know what it is you fear and I will gladly keep it a secret. We shall tell only those we must." She said decisively, and my giddiness flared again. Everything was going exactly as it should.

"I would not do that to you, for you deserve the greatest happiness and the very fullest life. Do you see now how my hands are... Thúlië, what are you doing?"

"Oh, do shut up and put the damned ring on." I heard her sheer exasperation and felt warm knowing exactly what would come next. "Now, give me your hand."

"What?"

"Oh, has what little intelligence you had left you entirely? Hand. Now." Her impatience flared up and I could imagine her face, full of fire as she stared down the elf she would have as a husband.

"Are you sure?" I heard the desperation in his voice, hushed but laced with hope and I heard her laughter before it was conspicuously silenced.

"Yes." Thúlië's voice was suspiciously breathless but so full of joy it made my heart ache with the beauty of it.

"Then we will. I will go to your Father as soon as I am able and see, beg, anything that I must to ensure we wed as soon as possible, and with as little a song and a dance about it as we can manage. I know that he will not desire the fuss, just as we do not."

"We will do what we must, and Father will understand for he did the same with my Mother, you know. They wed within three months of their betrothal." I heard her shriek of laughter and I dared to peek around the tree, blinking away the tears that threatened.

Thúlië was held high above Maedhros, his head tilted back and his long auburn hair fell low upon his back. Then he lowered her just a little so that their lips could meet, and I saw on their fingers simple bands of silver, glinting in the light of the early afternoon. Silently I cheered, arms raised in thanks to the Valar and to my cousin for finally having the good sense to take the bull by the figurative horns, jumping up and down in a circle in a fit of childish glee.

As fast as my feet could carry me I ran before I was noticed, bow still in hand as I pounded up the coast as quickly as I could. I came to a skidding halt outside of the home Jade and Glorfindel shared, banging on the door until I was admitted, breathless and flushed from the exertion and the happiness.

"Lita?" J held the door open for me and I saw that Glorfindel was sat with Father pouring over books.

"One, we must receive our winnings from Amdiriel. Two – how quickly do you think you can plan a wedding? Because I swear to you, if you intend to keep your daughter happy it will be as soon as you can muster." I spoke rapidly, falling over my words.

"Oh my God, did he...?" J was clinging on to my arm, her eyes full of hope.

"No, actually, it was a joint effort. He had the rings, she gave him no choice. I knew it would be soon but I did not realise..." J squealed, throwing her arms about me and I felt my bow clatter to the floor before I could try and save it. "

"Okay. Okay." she breathed deeply before squealing. "_Thúlië is betrothed, Glorfindel! _Right, now, just stop for a moment. Stop, and then start from the beginning Litawen. What do you mean that you _knew _it would be soon?"

"Oh, I had a dream again." I waved a hand. "It was weeks ago. Anyway, I went out hunting today and I came across them. They were arguing, unsurprisingly, about getting married. Glorfindel, they have been putting it off for the sake of us, to avoid the hellish fuss that is going to happen. They want to keep it a secret as best they can."

"Valar." Father sat forward in his chair, reaching out to pat Glorfindel's shoulder pityingly before collecting my poor bow from the floor. "Well, I suppose this way you can get it over and done with sooner. Litawen, I thank you for falling in love with someone remotely sensible in comparison."

"Pleasure." I drawled, folding my arms. "So, here is your warning – you can expect a rather surly lord bounding through those doors fairly shortly trying to act like he is impressive and imposing when really..."

"He is desperately seeking our approval. Bless him." J looked genuinely excited. "We know we can do a small wedding quickly – we can do it at Elrond's can't we?"

She turned to look at me and I shrugged. "Probably." I offered. "I doubt it will be a problem. We can arrange the music easily, and a feast can be arranged quickly enough with Mum and Celebrian at the helm."

J nodded decisively, pulling on a pair of slippers and disappearing into their bedroom, raising her voice a little as she clattered around. "Glorfindel, I'm going to see Benny and then Celebrian. Try to look surprised when Maedhros tells you that he and Thúlië are betrothed and _don't _tell him about the wager if you value your life. Litawen, come with me." She reappeared a moment later, hair neatly braided, and I took her arm with a grin when she offered it to me. "Who exactly is due winnings, by the way, asides from you and I?"

"Ami knows." Glorfindel sighed but tried not to look suitably pleased, standing as Father did. "Haldir, you had best go. This is going to be awkward enough without you looming around."

"Sometimes a little... intimidation can work wonders in getting to the heart of the matter." Father advised blandly as he took a moment to fix my bow upon my back more securely in case I was bounded at again.

"You don't intimidate me." I told Dad with a cheeky smile and his eyes narrowed.

"I might not strike fear within you, but your brothers I can still shock when I need to so I know my demeanour is not entirely lost." He told me, and then tapped my nose. "Come on then, trouble; I suppose we had best go find your Mother." He left the door and I tugged J with me who was staring down Glorfindel in what was as close to silent communication as I had ever seen them away from pregnancy.

"Play nicely." She warned him at last, letting go of me to kiss him soundly upon the lips. "Remember, Thúlië loves him and you rather like him when you aren't sulking."

"Thank you for that." Glorfindel laughed then, his mood lightening. "Sulking, indeed. Go, you utterly ridiculous creature."

"See you later, we'll probably be at Elrond's. Send people up that way if you find them." She squeaked as I took her hand again, pulling her along.

"Talk to the Lady about your dreams!" Was Glorfindel's parting shot and I glared over my shoulder as I dragged my Aunt out of the felt and into the woods, catching up to Dad who waited patiently for us.

"Shall we?" He gestured forwards with a brow raised, and I let him take my arm as Aunty J laced her fingers through my own at the other side.

**xxxXxxx**

"Good afternoon!" I called with far too much glee, sticking my head through Mum's kitchen window with Jade by my side, doing the same. Dad rolled his eyes at the both of us as he went to use the door as any other normal elf would.

"Hi, trouble. What's up?" She asked me, and then waved to J with a grin. "Alright, sunshine?"

"You totally need to pay up." J said, holding out her hand expectantly.

"What? No way!" Mum gaped, her hands that kneaded bread pausing and we both nodded. "God damn it, one minute." She put her dough back in a bowl and covered it with a towel before washing her hands and coming to the window. "So has he asked permission or what?"

"No, they're doing it arse-backwards. Lita heard them arguing about it when she was out hunting; I think we're going to surprise them with a rush-job. They don't want the fuss of a huge public betrothal because you _know_ how nasty the elves around town can be when they want to be." Mum, J and I shared an equally dark look.

"Fair enough, and I'm sure they'd both appreciate it."

"It's why he has been putting off asking, from what I heard and saw in one of my dreams a few weeks ago." I said, letting my joy grip me once more.

"Oh, the return of the creepy dreams again?" Mum queried.

"No, there is nothing _creepy_ about them so do desist. No, I will not see the Lady." I shot a look in warning to Mum which she promptly ignored.

"Look into your crystal ball..." She feigned some strange sort of trance until I poked her with an arrow from my quiver. "Oi, pointy."

"Do not antagonise your Mother, Litawen." He took the arrow from my hands as he appeared by her side, reaching around her short frame. "Now come inside, or decide what you are going to do now."

"I'm on my way to Elrond's to see about planning a wedding as soon as we can. Planner extraordinaire, do you want to come?"

"Is the Pope Catholic?" Mum asked as if it were obvious, moving away from the window to throw off her apron and tunic, finding a clean one from the laundry she had clearly only just brought in from drying in the blustery yet sunny day.

"What is a Pope?" I frowned, and J smirked as she patted my shoulder.

"It doesn't matter, Benny is being facetious; she means 'yes'."

"I do still wish to know what a Pope is." I said, hands spread before me and begging for an answer.

"Benny, what technically is the Pope's job?" J asked as my Mum pulled her hair back in a thick single braid.

"I don't know, you're asking the atheist. Something like the head of the Catholic church, God's right-hand man on earth? I guess kind of like a servant of God. You know, sort of like the Valar are supposed to be Eru's servants, but without all the power." She explained, climbing out of the window instead of using the door. Father watched with a blank expression as she did so before rolling his eyes.

"Do try to keep yourselves out of trouble." He said tiredly. "I shall come later; I think it is best I stay nearby if Glorfindel needs support, and I shall write to Legolas and Victoria so that they can come as soon as they are able. Are Elanor and Amdiriel this side of the mountains?"

"Amdiriel is, Elanor is not, so write to her too." Jade told him with a smile before we began to head down the path and up the coast towards town. "Thank you, Haldir." She waved, turning to see him still leaning against the window with a fond smile upon his lips.

"Do not think on it. I shall write to the Lady too about your dream, shall I?" I heard him call after us, and I groaned before I let my Mum and Aunt carry me along in their joy. Just as we reached the centre of town, I spotted Elrohir strolling with Maglor, speaking about something with a slightly serious expression.

"Pay up, the two of you!" I shouted in greeting, and Mum did the same as the two looked up as one.

"Lita's creepy dream came true! So turn around, back up to Elrond's; we've got a wedding to plan as soon as we can manage it."

"It was not a creepy dream!" I cried in indignation, but I was ignored by all parties.

"Valar, truly?" Maglor stared as we neared at last, and I snagged Elrohir's hand in my own as we continued to walk.

"Yes, but let Lita explain when we've got everyone together who needs to hear – easier that way than repeating it three times over." Jade told him, reaching up to give him a hug before he took her arm, following Mum who lead the way as she often did. As soon as I was confident they were all distracted, I leaned closer to Elrohir so we could have some semblance of privacy.

"Did you speak to your Mother?" I asked.

"About your dreams? Why, yes I did." He said pointedly.

"Cheeky; do not be obtuse. You know of what I speak."

"Yes, Litawen." He brought my hand to his lips as we walked. "She will leave it well alone for now, though she is now very interested in these dreams of yours. She occasionally sees, as my Grandmother does and as my Father has in the past. She would seek to help you further – she did not know you still experienced them."

I saw Elrond's house appear atop the hill that approached, but I kept my silence for a few minutes whilst I decided what next to say. "I do not wish to make a fuss, Elrohir." My voice was suddenly very small, and all the confidence I usually felt was stolen away.

"I know, love." His arm moved from my own to around my waist, and I assumed the same position as I leaned against him whilst we strolled still. "Yet sometimes the fuss will happen, whether one likes it or not."

"Can I not avoid it?" I asked hopefully. "Rather like Maedhros and Thúlië hope to?"

"For a while, perhaps." He told me gently, hand squeezing at my hip. "But one day it will become impossible to hide from whatever it is the Valar wish to reveal to you."

"Yes, I rather thought you might say that." I sighed, staring ahead again. "I hate this."

"I know." Elrohir said, slight humour tinting his tone. "All will be well, you shall see – starting with dinner."

Dinner, it transpired, was something akin to absolute madness.

Amdiriel was sat by Jade, pouring over the list of all those who had already paid into the pot and who still needed to so that it could be shared between those of us who had selected ten years – Jade, Osellë, Orophin and I.

My brothers were in the gardens shooting to try and keep away from the twittering women inside, and Celebrian and Mum were already planning for the feast. Elrohir was with Maglor, compiling a guest list and drafting invitations and Elrond stood beside me, watching the mass hysteria with remarkable tolerance.

"You know, I do not believe there was quite so much fuss for my wedding to Elrohir." I said with a grin, sipping the tea he had offered me silently.

"And we are all thankful for it. I am certain now my house shall not be my own until this whole business is concluded." He said, rather more calmly than I thought he would and more calmly than I felt for having a civil conversation with him.

"I expect not." I snorted. "If you do ever need to escape, I know a good cave."

"I do not doubt I shall consider it quite seriously." His tone was as smooth as it always was, but I saw the fondness in his eyes as Celebrian fussed happily. We turned as one as we heard a knock on the door, and Glorfindel stuck his head around the frame a few minutes later.

"Good Valar, you certainly had the army assembled. I brought Osellë and Orophin, and Tatharien and Miresgalon said they would both come shortly, but I expect they shall not be needed now."

"God no, I need Osellë so we can work out the music. I'm assuming you told him we're already doing this, yes?"

"Of a fashion. He was rather put out that I took it all so easily but then I blamed Litawen entirely for dreaming the whole ordeal before it transpired, and so he was more inclined to simply let it be." Glorfindel looked pointedly at me, and I stared back until he rolled his eyes. "They will be here shortly."

"We shall speak of these dreams." Elrond said to me as Glorfindel was followed in by Osellë, Orophin and Father - my Aunt resting her arms on Mum's shoulders to peer over her work as Dad greeted Maglor and Elrohir with a clasp of arms.

"So..." Mum sat back after a few minutes, calling everyone to attention. "I think we can do this in a month, six weeks tops. Most of those who will attend are here anyway, and it isn't like it will take long for Mum and Dad and Tori and Legolas to appear. Glorfindel, you okay with that?"

"I believe Thúlië would kill me in my sleep if I said otherwise." He laughed, and then looked up as the precise lady hovered in the doorway, looking rather awed at the scene before her.

"What... what is going on?"

Amdiriel threw a screwed up ball of parchment at her sister with a grimace. "You owe me coins, Thúlië. I thought you would take longer to get him under-thumb."

Thúlië stared blankly around us, and then realisation seemed to dawn on her. "Damn it all, you were wagering on if we would marry?"

"Not _if_, my wild one; when." J said as she went over the list again. "Only Elanor needs to pay, and her vote was by proxy anyway so we could just skip her and dish it out."

"I hate you all, did you know? And anyway, how did you know what had come to pass?"

"Litawen dreamt it." A chorus of voices echoed despite that each person was still absorbed in their task, and I pulled a face. "Now Thúlië, would you prefer pink or purple?" Celebrian asked out of the blue.

"Pink, always." She said faintly, sitting down. "You really... you are really doing this? For us?"

"Of course we are." Jade said gently then, placing her parchment down upon the table and moving to take her daughter's hands. "Where is Maedhros, anyway?"

"He was following me – I think he was looking for the twins first of all." She said, licking her lips nervously before drawing out the silver band she had worn earlier in the day and putting it back in place on her hand. J peered at it, holding it in the light so that it twinkled, and I saw that far from plain as I first thought, it seemed to form the shape of an elanor bloom on a single slim silver band.

"Lovely." Jade kissed her cheek, and then brought her to sit down next to her older sister. "Now, Amdiriel can sort decorations; Osellë, if you could arrange the music? Benny will go back to arranging the feast with Celebrian; then you, my wild one, can sit with me and work out just what dress you will be wearing." She dragged a chair to sit opposite her daughter, sketching a few basic forms and dress shapes with ease.

Thúlië continued to stare and Amdiriel took her hand with a smile, the other stroking her fair hair away from her face. "Go on; you will feel better for it."

My youngest cousin nodded once before promptly bursting into tears. "I cannot believe you all." I quickly crouched beside her, taking her other hand to provide as much comfort as I could, knowing just what a shock it would be for her. "I love you." She hiccuped and giggled between her sobs. "You are all so completely ridiculous and I love you."

"Love, what causes such tears? What is all this?" I looked up from my position to see Maedhros flanked by my brothers, his hair alight in the setting sun. This time it was Maglor's turn to scowl and the parchment that had been thrown at Thúlië was launched across the room to bounce off his brother's forehead.

"You are useless, brother. I thought you would have moved with more surety than you have shown and I now have lost money for it." Maglor groused. "I suppose I should congratulate you." He stood and approached his brother, taking his arm and then embracing him – the other elf too stunned to do anything but stare and vaguely hug back. I watched as he began to realise just what was happening and his brows drew, mouth opening to protest.

"Oh, don't pull that face. What was the first thing you learned about us?" Mum didn't look up from her parchment as she frowned. "Do you like goat's cheese?"

"I... I do not understand."

Mum laughed, her head still bowed as she wrote something down. "I thought that was a simple question. Did you break him when you put the ring on?" She asked Thúlië with raised brows, looking up at last, and my cousin giggled beside me as she wiped away the last of her tears. Mum winked at me and then went back to her parchment with a dramatic roll of her eyes. "Whatever. Goats cheese and spinach in puff pastry?"

"Oh, very nice. And then a good cake, of course." Celebrian added, scribbling down what ideas she had for the decoration.

"How did you know...?" He looked slightly bemused by the whole thing and I squirmed, knowing their answer.

"Litawen dreamt it." Everyone, including Thúlië, answered in unison and Maedhros' bright gaze fixed on me sharply. I grinned nervously, standing up and dropping Thúlië's hand before trying to hide behind Elrohir.

"Even fewer secrets then, I suppose?" He asked with wry humour before shaking his head. "I rather think I do not wish to know. Tell me when to turn up and a rough idea of what to wear, and I shall be there."

"Silver, and as soon as we know how quickly we can throw this all together I'll let you know the date." My Aunt said promptly from her chair, leaning back and crossing her long legs before her. "Welcome to the family." She stood then, skirting the table and opening her arms to hug him.

"I suppose." He sighed, and then in a swift movement lifted her of the floor in a crushing embrace.

"Put me down!" She cried and Maedhros' booming laugh filled the space. "Put me down or I'll get Litawen to shoot you." She tried to threaten him, only for me to frown as I was used as her weapon.

"No you won't." I said straight away before any other could agree with her sentiments. "I will not be shooting anyone." Father nodded his approval as I said the words.

"That does not mean..." Gelluion began, eyes glinting mischievously in the glow of the lamps that now took over from the sunlight as he loomed behind Maedhros.

"...We will not." Callon finished, twirling a hunting knife in is hand thoughtfully. "If you hurt our Thúlië, that is. You can have at Aunty Jade all you like."

Maedhros chuckled again as he placed my Aunt upon her feet, her cheeks flushed as she hit him solidly in the chest. "You think you're so funny." She gasped, her hand then going to her heart, before laughing herself.

"Lovely. So, goats cheese and spinach pastries? Come on, guys, seriously - we have a wedding to plan!" Mum huffed, and then shrieked when Maedhros promptly did the same to her as he had to my Aunt, her feet kicking uselessly in the air as he hugged her with all of his might.

"Yes, Benny, and I am sure it will be just fine." He assured her as he placed her back on her feet. "Thank you." Maedhros said sincerely and quietly to her then as people began to talk amongst themselves about their plans, and I saw her flush red before she sat down again, picking up her quill.

"Don't be ridiculous, there's nothing to thank me for." Mum waved off his thanks, trying to remain as cool and collected as she could.

"If you say so." Maedhros relented, meeting my eyes and winking at me before sitting beside her to peer at the menu. "Now, what monstrosities do you hope to feed me at my own wedding feast?"

**xxxXxxx**

Thúlië's wedding feast was so sincerely beautiful that both Amdiriel and I were in floods of tears by the end of it and Elrohir had fled to escape my unusual bout of feminine emotion, throwing a handkerchief in my direction that I caught even through my tears.

She was so elegantly draped in a soft shade of dusty rose, silver vines and flowers all about her so that she looked a little like a fairy from a mortal tale, and clearly she enchanted Maedhros as such as he danced with her now, with far more ease than he had only six summers before. She looked adoringly on at him, dressed so regally in robes of silver with the occasional flash of red which should have clashed terribly, but worked remarkably well.

Their vows had been spoken as if no others observed them, and though their affections were usually so reserved when in company they were laid bare as each promised themselves to the other until the world was new once more. Her lips had claimed his own easily as she raised up upon her toes, his head bowed the rest of the way to meet her in a clash of body and spirit and fire that even seemed visible to the eye.

"Oh, but she is so _happy_." Amdiriel sniffled from beside me and I leaned on to her, nodding as I dabbed at my eyes and offered the slip of cotton so that she could do the same.

"That she is. Ai, but I never dreamed _this_, and I am glad that I did not for I would not have wished for this moment to be spoiled by foreknowledge." I let Ami's arm wrap around my waist, and I felt another come to me from the other side.

"I am so glad for her." Tatharien said, kissing my cheek in greeting. "I would have hated for her to be as ridiculous as Miresgalon and I."

"I would not have permitted it." Ami snorted. "Oh good grief, what is Aunty Tori doing? Is that _dancing_?" She snorted at the barely coordinated movements of our warrior Aunt with Legolas, before she huffed and stomped away whilst he laughed until he wept, black hair in a curtain about him. Glorfindel was stood with Mum and Gil-galad, whilst Dad spoke with his brothers, Taeglyn, Osellë and Nerwen about something or other that was making them grin. Even Elrond seemed rather taken by the moment, dancing with Celebrian as Maglor played for us, and he smiled as he caught my eye roving around the garden full of the family I so adored.

"My beautiful nieces, how are you this fine evening?" My Aunt Elanor approached, her head cocked as she watched us thoughtfully.

"Wonderful, truly." Amdiriel said. "I will be returning with you over the mountains once the celebrations end, I think." She told her and Elanor nodded.

"I suspected as much – our halls have been much quieter for your absence. Litawen – I bring a letter to you from the Lady Galadriel. I suggest reading it when you are not quite so overcome with happiness..." she eyed the three glasses of half-empty wine on the table by our side. "... And seriously consider that which she offers." She held out the parchment to me and I disentangled myself from my cousins to take it. I moved to open it but she stayed my hand with a smile. "Truly, not now. I will be here for another month yet, so it shall keep."

"_Litawen_! Come and tell your Mother she will accept this gift whether she likes it or not!" I heard Maglor call pleadingly across the garden, and I realised that both he and Maedhros had hounded her into a corner without my noticing.

"If you'll excuse me, I have a disaster to avert." I groaned and Elanor grinned, her seriousness broken at last.

"Trouble really is rather good at following you around, Litawen." She said with humour. "I shall leave you to your battles, and I do not envy them."

"Mum, do shut up and accept the piano or so help me, I will bind your hands to it until you do!" I threatened as I swept across the garden, snorts and catcalls following me in my wake as I caught her eye.

"I hate you, Litawen."

"No you do not. I dreamt of you playing the very instrument, so you had better take it and not ruin my spell of good luck when it comes to these dreams. So far, they have all been correct." I said airily, and she cursed.

"Damn it, I can't argue with your creepy dreams." She muttered, her green eyes finally closing as she relented.

"They are not _creepy!" _I huffed, and my company chuckled before leaving Mum and I standing together. "What do you think I should do?" I tapped my temple and Mum sighed, kissing my forehead.

"See the Lady. I know, I know, but she really is the only person who can help you muddle through. You need to know why you have them, and whilst she might not know the answer to that she will certainly be able to help you work it out." She gave my hand a quick squeeze before her expression lightened. "Now this is far too serious a conversation for a wedding. You should be drinking and dancing!"

"And you should be accepting Maglor's gift." I reminded her, and her nose wrinkled.

"Damn, I thought we had managed to steer away from that. Is there any chance you could get drunk enough to forget about it?" She asked hopefully, and I kissed her cheek before twirling off into the music that now Osellë provided. Elrohir captured me about the waist as I did so, and I let him capture my lips in a thorough greeting before grinning at her over his shoulder.

"Never!"

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**So, what do you think? Reviews sincerely appreciated :) Lots of love, and see you soon! **


	16. Litawen at Two Thousand, Five Hundred

**Hi everyone! **

**Told you this one would be up sooner! This is one of my favourite chapters and believe it or not, it was one of the first I wrote for the Litawen Chronicles. Everything else sort of fell into place around it, near as. It's good, really, because I wouldn't have written otherwise as my little sister was on TV last night! The UK version of Undercover Boss, she's such a cutie. **

**Tomorrow is my last day at my current job, before I start my Teacher Training in a week's time. I hope to have the story finished by then, so keep an eye out for updates. I'm so nervous I can't tell you, and right now writing is a good way of expressing those nerves. **

**Your reviews mean the absolute world to me, so thank you :) I hope you all enjoy this one as much as I do. **

**Lots of love, **

**MM -x**

* * *

_The dream began like any other that I usually experienced – the colours unnaturally sharp, the voices ringing, the speed rapid as if everything was expressed before me in but a single blink. _

_However, instead of seeing from outside as often I did, I was within the dream itself, staring around me as if in a room with every dream I had ever experienced playing before me, surrounding me, overwhelming me. Past dreams from my childhood, more recent ones, and occasional glimpses that I had never seen before battered into my mind from all sides until I felt almost sick with it. _

_I saw when Callon was supposed to fall, and I took the fall for him. I remembered when I first dreamed of Miresgalon and Tath's wedding and the feeling in my stomach that gave me certainty that they would marry even before they courted – more and more, one after another at dizzying speeds. _

_I was there then, when Maedhros and Thúlië were betrothed – the dream that had triggered at last my need to seek the Lady. This one was the one slightly after that moment afterwards when Maedhros apprehensively knocked on Uncle Glorfindel's talan door, drawing himself up to full height and talking to himself to bolster his confidence before it left him. _

"_Maedhros, come in." Glorfindel opened the door, his voice easy and relaxed. "I suppose you have come to tell me about your new adornment." He nodded his head towards the ring on his finger and I reached out as if to touch Maedhros, but my hand fell right through the image as if they were phantoms before me. I saw the faint silver band he had worn so many years before, the three blue stones inlaid to indicate his past, present and his future. _

"_Yes, but more than that I come to request that we may be permitted to waive the year-long betrothal that would otherwise be expected." Maedhros seemed almost nervous, and I recalled that when I had first seen it, I laughed. _

"_I see." Glorfindel's brows rose and he held out his hand, gesturing for Maedhros to enter. "Why so suddenly?" _

"_You know why." His words were quiet and Glorfindel sat at his desk, turning in the chair to face his guest with his fingers forming a peak that his chin rested upon._

"_I know what you seek to avoid, but know this. It will come for you both, for the moment your rings are spotted all will know of your union. Are you ashamed of my daughter, Maedhros?" _

"_No, never!" He exclaimed, eyes wide with the shock. "How can you think that?" _

"_You have avoided this marriage for some time, and I have it on rather good authority that it was Thúlië who instigated the matter. No, the whys and wherefores are not of consequence." He stopped as Maedhros sought to argue and in my dream I felt the blush, not knowing that I was the reason until after the fact where the first time I had assumed Thúlië had told them._

"_I have only done so as I wished to give her time to see if her heart was as true as it was when first we began our courtship. Destruction and suffering have only ever followed in my wake and I feared the same would come here, but she has shown me that I happiness comes from places that I have never known before and I love her – truly, I love her. I know not all will be so accepting." _

_Glorfindel's eyes narrowed, but then an idea seemed to come to him. "I have something to show you, Maedhros, though I will be happy for you to wed as you wish and in whatever way you would be happiest. You say that you think all may not be so accepting?" He stood, gesturing for him to follow out of the door. I briefly saw the evening that followed as we planned their wedding, and Maedhros' stunned expression when he realised that we were doing all this for he and Thúlië._

_I saw the day of their wedding, and the letter that the Lady had sent to me. I saw myself, stood alone in a room as I read it, her gentle desire to teach me before I struggled to determine what was a normal dream and what was a vision. And then, I saw the dream which had finally pushed me to seek her out. The one that I experienced the night of their wedding, before I had taken time to read the note from Galadriel. _

_Thúlië and Maedhros walked through town hand in hand, stopping to look at things to buy in the market for their home together – one that he had built with his brother with his bare hands as a testament to his love for her and his commitment to their life together. I heard the whispers, the stares, and the elves that purposefully ignored them as they requested assistance or over-charged them for the privilege. _

_Maedhros was becoming angry, and so was I in the dream and now again. "I am so sorry, love." His hand tightened around her as he pulled her away. _

"_No, it is not you, and please never think that." She turned back, letting go of his hand and pointing to all of the elves who were staring at her, her eyes alight and her expression full of fire._

"_You all thoroughly disgust me." She spat. "I thought that we were a wise people; a people full of respect, understanding, and the capacity to learn from our errors in times past. Is his death not good enough for you? Is his suffering and pain and regret not enough to sate your blood-lust?" _

"_Litawen, let us leave this place. Do not trouble yourself with anger." Maedhros took her hand again, but she stole it back. _

"_No, Maedhros. My cousin Litawen, though more like a sister she has been to me, fought for the place of our family within this society and now it seems I must do so again. Are you all so averse to difference, change, and forgiveness that you recoil from it as if it were a snake that might bite you?" _

_Silence reigned, and her she sneered – the ugliest expression I had ever seen upon Thúlië's face. "Yes, I rather thought so." _

_She spun on her heel and marched away, head held high. Maedhros stared after her, and I almost wept at the complete and total adoration that swept his features before his face became stony once more, glaring at the elves who insisted upon making his life so difficult. _

_The dreams continued to flash – the very first vision I'd had under the Lady's tutelage – Elrohir and his brother Elladan, united once more in an embrace that was almost violent. More and more – some that had come to pass, some that never would for my gentle intervention, and some that might never come into being and were simple possibilities. Faster and faster they came until I felt as if I were thrown backwards into never-ending darkness... _

_And then I saw, and it turned my blood cold even as I dreamt._

I woke in a cold sweat, shaking from the dream that had gripped me and gasping for air.

"Lita?" A sleepy voice called to me and I turned in my bed to face Amdiriel who slept across the room.

"I am well, Ami, please do not fuss. Go back to sleep." I whispered but sat still, pulling a robe around me and meandered into the sitting room of our small apartment within Lady Galadriel's great halls. I took a light from the ever-burning oil lamp and lit a few small candles, looking deep into the heart of the flame for comfort. At the Lady Galadriel's request I had come across the mountains to her great gardens with my cousin, and she sought to draw forth my dreams and teach me to interpret them as she did.

The images of my dream still played in my mind and I could almost see the writhing figures in the mirror-like surface of the flame.

"What is it? What did you see?"

"I do not know that I saw anything; not for certain." I murmured to Amdiriel as she rested a hand on my back, eyes full of concern.

"You should speak to the Lady, Litawen. This is why you are here, after all – to learn how to use the openness of your mind to that which the Valar would have us see."

"I know, Ami, but this is the first thing of true consequence I might have seen." I explained, my eyes still trained on the dancing fire as my breath caused it to flicker.

"That you _have_ seen. Did it follow the pattern of the others?"

The pattern of my dreams was a strange one – they were always startling in their clarity and unlike other dreams that tended to fade after waking, the vision not only lingered but stayed at the forefront of my mind, demanding attention until I heeded the message. They were, it had seemed, rather more literal than they were vague and so I could often take direct action or understand them easily.

This one, however, was more vague than I was used to – or perhaps it was that I did not yet have all the pieces to make a full interpretation of the matter.

"I do not wish to. I do not wish for it to be real." My words were hushed, but the moment I spoke them I let the chains that the dream had bound me in release. Amdiriel sighed and wrapped her arms around me, stroking my head as great heaving sobs wracked me.

"Hush, darling one." She continued to utter soothing words until I could relax fully. "Now, tell me."

"I saw Grandfather and Grandmother fall to the floor as if struck, the light which had otherwise shone from them dimmed as they did so. The vision became dark, and then after a moment Mum joined them. A blackness again befell my sight, and after both Tori and J fell too. The light still yet remained encased within them but it was dimmed, a thin band of light reaching out into the darkness from their hearts as if..."

I realised that I was reaching out towards the candle flame as Amdiriel pulled my hand away quickly with a gasp – my fingers ever so slightly singed from the heat.

"Before you see the Lady, shall we try to fathom for ourselves what it might mean?" She asked as gently as she could, but I shook my head vehemently even as she held me and tried to calm me.

"I do not wish to know. The dream did not feel like a good one." I let her take my other hand and pull me to the small balcony, the cool air hitting my face and refreshing me at least a little.

"If these dreams continue, Lita, then you will see things that are bad as well as good." Amdiriel sat me down on the delicate chair and then seated herself opposite me, a finger tapping her lips thoughtfully. "It seems vague at first, but now I wonder if it is. Your dreams are never usually so vague so it would not make sense for these to be now."

"You speak of their deaths and the enchantment." I stated, following her path almost immediately.

"I do. Think on this, Litawen – perhaps you see them not as they are, perhaps you are not seeing their physical bodies. Perhaps it is that you see the parts of them affected by the enchantment."

I let her words dance in my head as I tried to fit them with my dream, leaning forward to rest my chin in my hands. "I believe their bodies were physical, but there was a glow about them that could indicate their spirit, but here I am blind-sided for Mother never speaks of her leaving Middle Earth and her deaths in either time. Without knowing this I cannot truly be sure of what this dream means, though I understand her hesitation completely."

"Perhaps our Grandparents may be a little happier to speak of their experiences?" She suggested and I nodded. "It is not too long a journey to the great halls and caves where Thranduil so resides. We could be there within a day."

"It has been a long time since I have seen him." I sat back, feeling a little more content now that I at least had a plan. "This dream has set me on edge, and I fear it is an urgent message. I know not how time has passed across the great sea, but I do so fear that we are coming closer and closer to the time when they will be born. I wonder..." I stopped, feeling a sudden chill. "I wonder if they will be affected by the enchantment in this time."

We shared a dark look, and Amdiriel stood – offering her hand to me as she did so. "Come. You pack our things now and prepare our horses to ride right away, and I shall explain to the Lady as best I can why we go with such haste."

"Thank you. I cannot yet speak to her on the matter until I know for certain what the dream refers to. If Mum kept her silence with even her family but for Father, then I can be sure she will not have spoken to any other." I reached out my hands to her and she took them in her own, giving them a squeeze.

"I know it, trouble." She teased until at last a smile cracked. "Write to Elrohir whilst you may, and let him know you will be abroad for a little time. You know how he worries when he does not hear from you and it has been a month since last you wrote. Put his mind at ease before it begins to whirr."

Know it I did. I had remained with the Lady Galadriel with Amdiriel now for the last hundred years to further my studies of the mind and my dreams – before we had met occasionally and discussed a few things I had seen, but as they became clearer and more regular the Lady had asked I accompany her on a more fixed basis to help my learning. Elrohir had firmly encouraged me to do so – at first accompanying me but now he remained at the coast for he was a distraction and the Lady made it quite clear he was only hindering my focus.

Now he visited whenever his time could allow, but as I was so engrossed in my studies and he too in work for his Father it had been longer and longer since we had lest held each other

_Elrohir, _

_Another dream has come upon me, rather unlike all others I have experienced before for it is dark, so very dark. I dare not yet speak of it truly because I am yet uncertain as to the truth of the matter. My dreams are usually so very literal and require little interpretation, but on this occasion as I know not all of the details I cannot understand it as fully as I would hope. _

_As such, I ride at first light this morning to seek my Grandparents, for it is with them, Mum and my Aunts to which this dream pertains. Should you write to me or seek me out, you shall find me in Thranduil's great stone halls at the base of the mountains to the south. I know not how long I will be there, but if I have any news you will be the first I tell. If you do not hear from me again, assume that I am there._

_I wish that you were here with me, for it feels a lifetime since last I saw your smile. I feel your love, as always I do, and with that which the Lady teaches me I feel it stronger and stronger each passing day. One day I hope that my mind can reach yours, but until that time I take everything that I can and I am glad for it. I only ask that you pray to the Valar that I find the answers I seek, and that you keep me in your thoughts. _

_Oh, how I wish for your wisdom, your warmth, and your laughter which has been so stolen from me of late._

_I love you, my roguish heart; now and always._

_Your Litawen_

I folded the letter and sealed it, before packing what we would need. I pulled my hair back and settled my favourite circlet in place before dressing, dragging on my boots, and throwing my cloak around me. When Amdiriel returned it was with a small basket and two skins of water – provisions for our journey south.

"The Lady rests, but a message I have left with Lord Celeborn who I happened across upon the path. He has granted us lembas from the Lady's own stores." She held out the basket. "Along with the water we should be well set to reach the caves by tomorrow morning."

"That is good." She was dressed in a fitted tunic and breeches, so unusual for her that it startled me a little, and a cloak swathed her from head to toe. "I must send this letter right away so that it is taken with the morning rider, and then let us depart – the sooner I understand this message, the better."

"Of course."

**xxxXxxx**

The ride was a solid one but for the few hours we took to rest our horses here and there, and to refresh our water supplies from a spring. I was uneasy and paced even when we stopped to rest and eat at the warmest part of the day until Amdiriel threw herself at me and pinned my legs to the floor.

"Litawen, your pacing is making me quite nauseous. Desist, I beg you."

"I cannot stop thinking of the dream. I am so worried for them. I am certain that the reason I have these dreams at all is directly due to this one."

"I know it, and likely it is, but there may be nothing you can do anyway so please try to calm yourself a little. Every hour we draw nearer to Thranduil's home and I am certain our Grandparents can assist us as best they may." She tried to soothe my agitation, patting my knee once she was certain I would not begin pacing again.

"I am so sorry for dragging you into this, Amdiriel." I lay back against the grass, watching the clouds as they passed.

"Do not trouble yourself on that, Litawen. I am glad to have been your companion and to help you understand that which you see. Together we are quite the pair." She chuckled then, trying to ease the darkness in my soul as best she could.

"I, impulsive and rash, and you of an even disposition. I sometimes wonder that you are the other part of my soul the Valar forgot to give me."

"Now, there is a pretty thought." She teased, leaning back beside me and rolling head to watch me with a smile. "And then you bring daring about in me which I might otherwise be too hesitant to follow."

"An even prettier thought, though not quite so pretty as the lady who says it." I retorted gently and felt her hit my arm. "What? It is true!"

"You are mad." She said fondly, and then giggled as her horse's velvety nose nudged her cheek. "I suppose you are hungry? Is grass not good enough for you now?" She dragged an apple from her bag and fed it to her steed, head falling to one side as he chomped happily to avoid the spits of fruit. "Ah well, we should ride on."

"We should. How long, do you think?" I asked her and she gazed up at the path of the sun across the sky thoughtfully.

"The rest of the day we must take at a steady pace for the sake of our horses. We should arrive in the early morning if we press on and do not take a long rest ourselves, and as the night becomes a little cooler we might ride more quickly."

"Did Celeborn mention if the Lady would try to reach Thranduil and let him know of our arrival?" I asked as I sat, brushing off the splinters of dry grass and wood that were bound to my cloak.

"He did not. However, the King knows his lands well and will see us coming long before we arrive in his realm." She assured me and I grimaced playfully before mounting up again.

"I know it. Still, if he knew we were to arrive beforehand I might hope for a bath."

"Oh, woe is Litawen for she smells like a horse!" She laughed and I pulled another face. "At least you are already married and do not need to attract a suitor! I yet still remain unwed."

"What is this, is Amdiriel finally admitting that she desires love at last? Only two and a half thousand years on from her birth!" I cried out in mock-astonishment.

"Oh, shut up." She groused, and then perked up. "Race you!" She shot off before I had a chance to process what she had said, and with a curse I followed her.

We rode with remarkable ease the remaining length of our trip, her horse taking the lead from the start that I had no hope to catch up on. As the afternoon faded to evening we took few hours to eat – my hunting skills useful at last as I shot a small rabbit we roasted and shared. We were both quiet and introspective, and we both took turns to take an hour of rest before continuing our ride onwards.

I saw the glittering stone of the mountains begin to take carved shapes and great posts, and I slowed once more to marvel at the beauty of the glowing rock in the moonlight that was slowly but surely giving way to the sunrise over the mountains.

"If ever I were to live anywhere but the coast, I think that it would be here." I admitted sincerely, and then felt suddenly devious. "Come, last one to the paddock can do the washing!"

"I hope you like being covered in suds!"

We rode as quickly as we could, pushing to our limits, and I triumphantly skidded to a halt with my content mare below me breathing heavily for the sudden exertion. "Ha! I win!" I lauded as she dismounted, glaring up at me before I did the same.

"Excuse me, is there anywhere I may tether our horses and ensure they are provided for?" I asked a nearby elf who bowed in greeting, catching his eye as firmly as I could. He was young, not even one hundred summers, and so he seemed a little uncertain as to why we approached him.

"My Lady, of course. You are welcome to keep them in the paddock, and for a small fee they are fed and watered."

"Wonderful, I thank you – I shall arrange this as soon as I may if you would permit them to graze in the meantime. Do you perhaps know where my companion and I may find Captain Gaelin and Lady Aurae?"

"Of course. I apologise, my Lady, but I know not. The Captain is oft with the King so to find one is to find the other." The fair-haired hand said regretfully. "If I happen to see either party, would you like me to advise of your presence Lady..."

"Litawen, my name is Litawen, and this is my cousin Amdiriel." I introduced the lady by my side who curtsied in greeting.

"Of course, my Lady Litawen. Perhaps, if you will, I shall take you to Thranduil who can guide you further."

He gestured for us to follow and we did so, falling into the shadows of the caves. They had seemed so beautiful to me for my whole life – as if the very stone were living and lit from within where veins of precious gems glowed in the torchlight. Amdiriel too had a similar look of awe upon her face as we passed through and to the great hall where Thranduil most often resided.

"Here is where I must leave you for now, if you will excuse me. I hope your stay is pleasant and you find those you seek." Our guide bowed to us and we both did the same before glancing up at the intricate door with golden carvings. I quickly fished a small number of gold coins from my purse and pressed them into his palm. "Thank you, my Lady!" He exclaimed, still-short hair flicking back as he grinned boyishly, shooting off into the chasms of the halls.

"He was sweet." Ami murmured as I knocked on the doors, awaiting permission to enter. "I am certain you have made his day."

"_Enter_." I heard a familiar voice drawl, and the doors were opened before us from the inside of the hall.

Thranduil was all but sprawled upon the chair he claimed as a throne, eyes brilliant blue and as penetrating as ever they were when one gazed upon him. "Ah, the offspring of Mirkwood's prodigal daughter returns to us at last."

"Do not let Mother hear you say that, lest you get shot."

"Aerlinn ever has had terrible aim." Thranduil stood in one sweeping movement, his arm dropping the great rivers of silk he so preferred to surround himself with. It was so ostentatious and I vaguely heard that within her own mind, Amdiriel was laughing.

"I certainly would ensure she doesn't hear you say that either, for who said that it would be she to fire the arrow?" I answered back as he grasped my arm in greeting.

"Indeed – well met, Litawen. And Lady Amdiriel; a pleasure." He bowed his head to her as she curtsied, watching our banter with an air still of amusement.

"Indeed it is my Lord."

"So, to what do we owe this particular pleasure?" Thranduil asked. "Rarely do your kin seek to invade my now so peaceful realm, but here I find myself surrounded."

"Surrounded? I hardly think..." I began, only to be sharply interrupted.

"Lita!" I heard a cry and before I could do anything further I was swept from my feet in a crushing embrace.

"Ai Uncle Legolas, let me breathe." I let him drop me to the floor, only for him to do the same to a dodging Amdiriel who could escape his clutches for only a moment.

"What brings you to these halls? I am here with Tori – we have news to share, but I did not expect to see you in person to deliver it!" He exclaimed, blue eyes shining.

"If such raucous interruptions did not so cloud my halls then we might have known the matter." Thranduil stated blandly, but lacking in his usual venom as he gazed at me.

"Of course. I came to speak to my Grandparents on a matter of some urgency, as I have been under the tutelage of Lady Galadriel – as you know, Uncle. A dream has come to me and I do not understand it, so before speaking with the Lady of my fears I would speak with those who are directly involved." I dragged my cloak about me as if to fight off a chill.

"So Galadriel has been teaching another her tricks of the mind, how very interesting." Thranduil went back to his great carved throne and sat, legs crossed elegantly and I glared at him before I could stop myself. "Ah, and there is the fire – I am glad that Bernadette's dragon-like tendencies have not been entirely lost for your... learning."

_Your bark is entirely worse than your bite, so do desist my Lord Thranduil. You do not scare me. _I formed the thought within my mind, my eyes not leaving his, and I watched his eyes widen ever so slightly before he laughed out loud as my words echoed in his own mind for only his ears. "Tricks of the mind indeed, Lady Litawen. I have never been fond of such, so if you would be so kind as to refrain from them in my company?"

"Of course, my Lord. Please rest assured that such tricks tire me and I do not make a habit of it, as it is." I drawled. "If we are quite done with the theatrics, I do need to speak to my Grandparents."

"Of course. Legolas, lead our guests to quarters and then I would speak to you directly as we planned." He waved his hand carelessly, giving us leave to go, and I turned to my Uncle expectantly."I will see you all for dinner." The way he phrased it, I knew it was a demand and not a request.

"Of course, Father. My nieces?" Legolas gestured for us to follow him out of the hall. "What was all that in aid of?" He turned to look at me as we walked.

"I have more than simply studied my dreams, Legolas. I have learned to actively seek them, and to do so requires great understanding of the power of one's own mind and indeed one's spirit. If any choose to pursue such innate knowledge, then they may learn to send and hear thoughts as the Lady does. Whilst not all may have the skill to do so, it appears that the Valar have gifted me in such a way."

"That, and you are entirely too pig-headed not to be able to do anything you set your mind to." Amdiriel, took my arm as she spoke flatly, and I smacked her playfully as we walked by Legolas' side. "I have a little skill in doing so, but not so much as Litawen. More often now we work together as a pair – Lita is more skilled at sending thoughts, and I am more adapt at hearing them when I so choose."

"Joyous, so there is absolutely no privacy amongst us now." Legolas sighed, but I saw that his lips were turned up through the strands of dark hair. "I suppose you have had a dream that concerns you, for you to have ridden in such haste?"

"Yes." Amdiriel answered for me when my throat became stuck.

"Then I beg you, do not yet make it apparent to your Aunt unless you must. She is here with me and we have come with only the very best of news. She is with child and has suffered sickness for it, as both Benny and Jade did. I cannot bear the thought of her being anything but happy."

"Oh, Legolas." I threw my arms round him and hugged him tightly, and Ami reached to hug him from the other side so we encased him entirely "Congratulations to both of you. I shall of course ensure that at present only my Grandparents know, but I must tell you that my Aunts and Mum were also a part of this dream-vision. I may not be able to keep this a secret if they are endangered."

"Then we shall tame that particular beast when it comes, and not before."

"Of course." Ami and I spoke as one, and then laughed a little awkwardly as the tension eased. "So, how far along is she?"

"But three months, so it is yet soon into her pregnancy. We felt now was the best time to come, before she is rather so cumbersome that the journey becomes difficult for her. This is why I would keep your dreams and concerns private, for she is already prone to overwork."

"I'm not made of glass, Legolas, don't you try and plot against me because you won't win. What are you talking about, Lita?"

I turned on the spot and saw Tori following us at a distance with her arms crossed. "Things." I said vaguely, but reached out for a hug with an expectant gaze.

"Fine." She grumbled and then hugged me, her arms tight around my middle as she did so. "Wanna tell me about your creepy dreams, trouble?"

"Do I have a choice?" I asked hesitantly, and she shook her head even as I heard Legolas say that I did.

"Don't argue with a pregnant lady." She said to the lot of us, but then grinned. "Anyway, I've already died twice before. It isn't like it can get worse than that."

"I fear it is upon that topic I must speak. Do you recall much of it?"

"What, dying?" She frowned, clearly taken aback by the query. "A bit. I don't remember as much as Benny and J, I never have. I only remember floating in warmth and darkness, and then my memory was gone when I closed my eyes. I don't know about my Mum and Dad though; I guess you'd be best talking to them."

"Hence my appearance here." I let her go and gestured around me, feeling rather helpless. "I wish that I could make sense of it, for it scares me."

"Come on. I'll take you to our rooms, get you de-horsed and then we can have a better chat about it. Come on Ami, you as well. Legolas, will you get Mum and Dad for me and bring them up?"

"Of course." He kissed her forehead tenderly. "Try not to overwork yourself, and Father requests us at dinner so you will need your strength."

"Give up; you're doing my head in." She snapped at him, and then blushed. "Sorry."

"Liar." He said fondly as he ran his knuckles over her cheek, and then disappeared into the darkness. I watched her eyes follow him, and her lips formed a small smile before she dragged us along rather physically, my hand and Amdiriel's in each of her own.

"Come on, you really do smell like a stable and it offends my pregnant-lady nose."

**xxxXxxx**

"Well, this feels like a war council." Grandfather said as I sat by his feet, my head resting on his knees. Legolas sat with Tori's head upon his lap, and Ami was curled up with my Grandmother, their equally fair hair mingling as she rested her head on her shoulder. "Not the way I expected to spend an otherwise lovely morning."

"I had noticed." I murmured. "As you know, Lady Galadriel, Amdiriel and I have been working to coax and tease my dreams so that I can use them more reliably to see what may come to pass."

"Yes, Benny and Elrohir explained. You know, you should write to him more, for he now monopolises Benny's time thoroughly and Haldir becomes sick of it." Legolas commented and I glared at him before I could stop myself.

"I wrote to him yesterday in the early hours. If the rider I hired goes as quickly as I requested, the letter should reach him tomorrow."

"Then no doubt we shall see him in a week's time, if you panicked him as thoroughly as you have us." Grandfather sighed, running his hands through my hair just as he hand when I was a child. "What is all this about?"

"I started having dreams so realistic when I was young – I never knew what they were and often they were fun, so I did not ever pay them any heed. I had one dream that came to truth when I was around seventy summers where I fought with Callon and Gelluion in a tree. I pushed him trying to stop myself from taking a tumble and he fell, and became injured by a boar that we had hunted. When the day came I took the fall instead, the day I broke my wrist so long ago." I explained and Tori smirked.

"Ah yes, I recall." Her voice was enough of a drawl for me to simply raise my hand in a rude gesture before continuing.

"I have always been... intuitive. When I met Elrohir some summers later I touched his hand and I felt something between us – I had vague dreams then that were moments in time, some of which have since come to pass. Some have not." I blushed, thinking of the tiny hand I had once seen holding my thumb. "This truly began, however, when I awoke to a dream of Mother when we introduced her to Gil-galad. I first at thought it was the Lady directing me, but instead I had dreamed it of my own volition."

I told the story of the occasional visits I had with Galadriel at first, and then the longer and longer stays I had come to take. "Now I have a great deal of control over my mind, and I can open myself to whatever messages the world might bring to me. It is a benefit, I feel, from the more mortal sleep I take, for I remain longer and deeper in my dreams rather than those walking the path in the stars."

"And so we come to the dream Litawen had only the night before last, before she becomes muddled in the intricacies. I know how difficult this must be for you, but we need to understand what you recall from when you passed, in either life and time." Ami said quietly, and Grandfather sighed.

"This damned enchantment. A curse I should name it." He squeezed my shoulders. "I remember darkness. Warmth and darkness, and a voice both deep and beautiful telling me to rest. The second time, it was as a great fading – the disease that took me from that world entirely, including any strength I had left. My vision was red, then black, and then a flare of light blinded me before I fell to the floor with a thud. And I... woke up."

"Lita, what _was_ your dream?" Grandmother asked at last.

"I was in the darkness, and it was entirely black. I then saw you, Grandfather, fall with a flash of light and then your glow dimmed as a funnel of light spiralled forth from your chest. I waited again for time uncounted, and then Grandmother did the same. A long time in my dream passed, but no time at all, and I saw Mum do the same before in a blink of an eye the twins appeared." I nodded over to Tori who was staring at me thoughtfully.

"And we all had these strings of light from us?" She asked and I nodded, her hand coming to tap her lips. "Well, I can tell you one thing right away – that's the order we were born."

I absorbed the information, letting it fit into what I knew. "This likely means your rebirth in the other world is coming soon." As soon as I said the words I knew in my heart they were true. "I cannot help but feel that this is a warning."

"It probably is. Damn it, I wish Benny would talk about this. She knows more than most of us about what happened and knows what happened to our souls too – the woven light you saw, I'm certain. It was shared between our elven and mortal forms and in the transitions became... torn, I suppose."

Legolas looked down at Tori who was speaking frankly about her own experience, a frown on his face. I realised that as with Mum and Dad, and between Glorfindel and Jade, they could speak within their minds. "Oh, stop it." She said reproachfully to him at last. "You know I'm talking only about the physical aspect, and you ranting inside my head is just proof of that. I didn't suffer the same complex as Benny about it all."

"I suppose." He grunted, eyes dark, and his hand strayed to rest against her abdomen protectively. "Go on, explain as you will."

"I don't need your permission." She laughed with a snort. "The bond we share is a very physical one, and it was something Legolas, Glorfindel and Haldir all chose to do. We could probably have bound without them doing what they did, but the fact is now that our souls don't only meet as yours does with Elrohir, but they are physically interwoven." She raised her hands and showed her locked fingers. "When we wed, Legolas found that part of me that was damaged by the enchantment and filled it, stitched it back together with all that he is. Haldir and Glorfindel did the same, and they chose to do it of their own free will out of love."

"It was never a choice." Legolas murmured, stroking his free hand thorough Tori's hair as she remained strewn across his lap. "Hundreds of years had I loved you and waited. I would gladly do anything for you, then and now." Her face turned a little to meet his eye and I felt a swell of tears as I looked away, a pang in my heart from missing my own love sorely.

"Gaelin and I share a bond as you and Elrohir do, and our marriage followed us of a fashion between each realm." Grandmother continued, permitting them their moment. "It was one of the very few things I was aware of, in my human form."

"How do we know for certain that it will affect you?" Amdiriel dared to ask.

Grandmother and Grandfather shared a look above my head. "We don't."

"Anything that might happen will happen to me first of all. That should give you a year then until Aurae would be affected, and then twenty three years until it would hit Benny." Grandfather's voice was almost clinical as he spoke. "Tori and J are three years younger after that, if you continue to make a hash of it."

"The dream did not feel... fatal." I explained as Grandfather's hands continued to run through my hair. "It felt like a..." I tried to find the word for my experience of the dream. "Not a warning, not nearly so sinister."

"Like a heads-up?" Tori supplied. "A 'hey, watch out for this' kind of thing?"

"I suppose so, yes." I nodded, and Grandfather's hands dropped to squeeze my shoulders. "I think for the meanwhile I shall stay here – it benefits me more to be close by that in the Lady's halls."

"Then I too shall stay, Lita." Amdiriel slid to the floor and sat beside me, taking my hand. "You should try to speak to the Lady and tell her of your intentions."

"I do not know that I can. It is tiring trying to speak to someone within the same room, let alone across hundreds of miles." I said doubtfully even as I closed my eyes, steadying my breathing. "May I have a candle? It helps me to focus."

One was brought before me, Amdiriel still holding my hand as silent support, and for a time I simply stared into the flame until it became completely still and the surface glassy, and when it did so I let the barriers about my mind fall one by one until the mirror of the flame was echoed in my mind. I tried to find the connection – the cord of pure white the lead me to the Lady's mind and I saw it, but it was so very faint I knew I had but one chance before I lost it completely.

_Please... I need your help!_

The cord blazed just once with the message before it died completely, and I sucked in a great gasp of cool air – I had no idea that I had been holding my breath until I blinked once or twice, seeing only the flame of the candle once more and not the surface of a mirror.

"Did you manage to send her a message?" Ami asked my by side, and I nodded.

"I think so, but I cannot be..."

_Speak. _I almost cried with relief as I heard her voice in my mind. _You did well – you have learned much, but your strength will take thousands of years to truly grow. _

_I had a dream._ I explained, and I knew she was staring into my memories and into the very image of my dream.

_A similar vision has been in my mind, and when Celeborn told me of your flight I knew too you must have seen it. You are right to stay – watch them and care for them, for I do not think anything will be immediate. I too will watch, and should any more visions come that my help us determine what will happen next we will speak again._

A thought suddenly came to me, and my eyes flew wide as I tried to communicate it to her as best I could. _Can you see into the other world?I feel that if we can find some information on what happens there, we can determine how close we are to the event of my Grandfather's birth. I am certain that it is what this vision must refer to._

There was a silence for a moment, and I wondered if the connection between our minds had been lost. _I cannot alone. I must ask those who may still yet gaze into Middle Earth, and I know not if they will answer my call. For now there is little more we can do but wait, and hope, and pray that this is but one possible outcome of many. _

_Yes, my Lady, and I thank you. _

_Not yet, Litawen. No thanks shall there be until those we care for come through the darkness safely. _

Her voice was gone as soon as it had come and I was left sat upon the floor with a heaviness in my heart.

"Well?" Tori asked expectantly, still laid on one side with her head in Legolas' lap. I drew a hand over my face with exhaustion – both from the desperate call to Lady Galadriel and the weight of her response.

"We have shared the vision of a kind, and the Lady seeks further answers to see what yet happens in the mortal realm. She may not be able to receive them, and so we must hope that this is just one possible image of a thing which may yet come to pass."

"So we wait." Grandmother said, standing with a sigh as I nodded. "Well then, best put the kettle on."

**xxxXxxx**

Two weeks later I wandered the halls of the King, my fingers dragging against the stone and sending loose flecks skittering across the floor. Nothing more had I heard from the Lady, and more than anything I simply wished for the comfort of my Mother, my Father, and of Elrohir. Instead, I intended to ride for a while and perhaps hunt a little to try and soothe my frayed nerves so that I could carry on with living as best I could.

That was one of the hardest lessons I had learned from the Lady, when I had a vision of a lady I knew Mum was caring for – the child never came to life, her miscarriage devastating to both my Mum and to the lady who bore the child. I had so desperately sought to interfere, but the Lady stayed my hand.

"Sometimes we must let things be as they will. You will come to know in time when you can intervene, and when you must let things pass." I nodded, and tried not to cry when Mum wrote to me telling me of what had happened; not a soul knew of it but the Lady, and so I kept it to myself even when it tore me apart.

The dream had repeated again only once, the image entirely the same but lacking in the recollection of all of my other visions. Instead of being a part of it as I was before, I was simply an observer as I saw their forms prone in the blackness, their skin as pale as moonlight and seemingly so bereft of life but for the light that poured from their hearts.

I heard a commotion just as I approached the paddock and I heard a voice that made my heart leap in my chest.

"Elrohir!" Running the rest of the way, I flung myself at my husband just as he turned to see me coming, crying out his name as if I were in pain. His arms grasped me firmly against him, one arm encircling my waist and the other anchoring in my hair as his head rested against my own. It was something like relief to hold him at last, and I felt his love, his joy, his fear in a wave of sensation like I had never known before. In that moment when passion and panic combined, I reached out as if it were a second nature to me and my mind collided with his own.

_Oh thank the Valar you are here, Elrohir. I love you. I am so scared. _The words almost blended into one thought but I knew in the way he tensed he heard me, and then he pushed me away gently.

He held my face in his hands, his eyes like the clouds before a storm as they searched my own. I could feel him reaching, trying to find the path that I had blazed between us. _Come on_, I begged him silently – as much with my eyes as I did with my words. _Follow me, Elrohir. Take my hand._

I encompassed his mind with sheer desperation, feeling his own desire to forge the connection, and somehow I felt the blaze of light and triumph as it was there. In that moment I wept with relief, and then the tears became those of sorrow as in my mind I relived the last few weeks for Elrohir to see.

"Hush, Litawen." His hands brushed away the tears, tenderly, a light kiss pressing against my lips. Then I heard his words, quiet at first and then more and more surely. _Hush, my troublesome wife. I love you. Everything will be well. _

I only cried harder.

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**What do you think? Reviews, as always, mean everything to me and fuel my writing! See you early next week (I'm getting hideously drunk this weekend in celebration.)**


	17. Two Thousand, Five Hundred - Part 2

**Hi everyone! **

**So many amazing reviews for the last chapter! I cannot thank you all enough :) **

**Tomorrow is my first training day at my school so I'm pretty nervous and procrastinating, therefore have a chapter! A little bit of comic relief before the next one or two which are going to be quite heavy, safe to say. **

**Enjoy, and I hope you all have a fab week! As always, reviews make my little world go round.**

**Lots of love, **

**MM -x**

* * *

"Lita!"

"Callon, Gelluion! It is so wonderful to see you." My brothers barged into my chambers without warning and clung to me like limpets upon the rocks. "I have missed you both."

"And we you, Litawen. It has been far too long." Cal tugged a curl playfully before I batted his hand away. "Have you any more news?"

Six months had passed. Six long months since I had first dreamt of the trouble that would come, and six months since either the Lady or I had any more information on what it might truly be. I had not yet seen my Mother since then – partially simple circumstance, but mostly by design. We had written briefly, but from what my brothers had said to me she had not handled the news at all well.

"None. How is Mum?" I asked gently, letting them lean against me for comfort.

"We wanted to speak to you further on that." Gel said tentatively. "She is here with Dad – they are letting our horses out in the pastures as we speak. We wanted to let you know first so that you were prepared. How is Tori?"

"Pregnant." I said drily. "And Gods above, the whole world knows it. If she has any more children after this one I will eat my bow." I said thoughtfully. "I suppose this is why Mum's come, with her only having three months to go?"

"Truly, I'm not certain." Cal let go finally, throwing himself onto my bed.

"Boots!" I cried, but it was too late and a smear of mud decorated the linen. "I hate you." I whimpered, leaning back against Gelluion who was hugging me still.

"It is only mud." Gel told me soothingly.

"You say that as if Mum didn't string you up to dry if you tracked mud through her house." I pointed out, but it was nice to simply bicker back and forth with my brothers. Gel pulled a face and kicked off his boots before crossing his legs on the bed, leaning forward on his elbows.

"So, what exactly was it that you saw? Mum nor Aunty Jade will speak of it, and I do not know that Father or Glorfindel have even been told."

I chewed on my lip for a moment. "It is complex. I have come to believe that every dream I have ever had was leading to this single vision; to ensure that I trust the sight enough to pay attention to it and understand the implication."

"So you think this is a message from the Valar?"

"Perhaps." I nodded. "Or from their servants who see the world as it is. I know that the Lady yet tries to speak to them, but as of yet no audience nor message has been granted."

"I am so sorry, Lita." Gel's arms around me tightened just a little as I leaned against him, and then I felt the light touch of a mind against my own. Elrohir had all but moved into Thranduil's caves with me, and intended to stay as long as we needed to

_Love, where do you hide? You have visitors._

_I know, Callon and Gelluion have found me. How is she? _

Elrohir hesitated before he spoke again, and I could hear the wince in his voice when he did finally answer. _You will be fine, Litawen. Now come out of your hiding place._

_That is not particularly comforting, husband-mine. _

"You look so like the Lady when you do that, it is rather terrifying. I suppose that was Elrohir?"

"Hmm. I'll be sure to let her know you think she is rather... what was the word? _Creepy_? I am certain she will enjoy it." I mused, Callon blanching as I skimmed the very loudest of his thoughts.

"Stay out of my head!" He cried, Gel laughing from behind me as his twin squirmed.

"Then don't leave it open!" I answered playfully. It was true – in the practice of speaking mind-to-mind with Elrohir I now found it easier to hear the thoughts of my closest family, and even some friends

"I never needed to worry about it until you started getting all.. all.. witchy! With your visions and mind-speak." He protested, hands coming to cover his eyes as if it might do something to prevent me from seeing his thoughts if I wished to.

"If you were not thinking thoughts quite so impure you would have no reason to fear Litawen, I am certain." Gelluion prompted, and I grinned as Cal reacted to it immediately – my brother was never quiet outwardly and so he was equally as loud in his own mind.

"O-ho!" I caught the glimpse of a laughing lady dancing in the square, my brother blushing unrelentingly as I did so "What is this? Is Callon in love at last?"

"You are all kinds of dead to me, Gelluion." Cal snarled at his twin who simply shrugged.

_So worth it_. I heard his voice – a single pure stream of thought and before I could help myself I giggled, winding up my already enraged little brother further.

"Children, that's enough." I turned as Gel did to look at the door, where Mum was leaning with her arms crossed, a slight tilt to her lips. Her inky hair had been cut recently and it fell in tighter waves and curls that would usually have been tamed by the weight of it, her eyes narrowed slightly as she watched us. However, her posture was relaxed and the slightest, almost invisible smile was caught upon her lips as she observed us. "Litawen, leave Callon alone. Gel, you know better."

"Tell him to keep his thoughts to himself." Gel kept me within his arms, and I saw Elrohir and Dad looming quietly in the corridor.

"I know you know how to ignore his thoughts. Boys, if you'd excuse us for a little while? Haldir, would you stay?" She gestured for Callon to get of the bed, batting at his legs until he pulled his boots back on and stood.

"Play nicely." He quipped, kissing her crown before following after Elrohir, Gel giving me a squeeze before following after his twin just as Dad crossed him and closed the door with a thud before leaning back against it.

"Well, if it isn't one thing it's another with us, isn't it?" Mum said with humour, pulling her boots off with a dark glance at the streak of mud Cal had left. She sat back on my bed, patting the space beside her until I sat beside her. Dad sat at the end of the bed, watching us both with an expression that was unreadable even to me as I leaned against Mum, head burrowing into her shoulder. "Want to tell me about your creepy dream?"

I chuckled a little. "I think you must have heard about it by now."

"Yeah, we have, but I want to hear it from you. Things can sometimes get lost in translation so I want to make sure we're on the right track."

"Do you know what it is that I dream?" I sat up, but Mum pulled me down with a sigh.

"A theory – Haldir and I have a theory. We have hashed it out for the last 6 months and we can't see anything else it could be. So just... just tell us. Please."

I recounted the dream moment for moment, and Mum only held me tighter as I did so. "And after the last one appeared I saw no more, only the five forms floating in the darkness."

"And did you see anything different between your grandparents, and between me and the twins?" Mum prompted and I frowned as I closed my eyes.

"No... yes, wait a moment. There was almost a shadow of light, so faint that I can barely perceive it but the column of light is narrower too."

"Damn." Mum sighed, and in an unusual display of affection Dad came to sit at my other side, his hand grasping my own. "Well, I'm right. As Tori already said, that's the order we were born in this lifetime, but in the other too. Never, to my knowledge, have our two selves lived simultaneously within on world. It creates a paradox."

"But your two selves would never meet."

"True, but we also share the same soul. Our spirits were damaged at some point in the transition. My Mum and Dad were bound before and so that kept them stronger, but the twins and I... There was a rift. Stop it, Haldir." Mum didn't even look at Dad as she spoke. "Haldir, Legolas, Glorfindel... they naturally healed the rift they found. But because of that it leaves them vulnerable too. The shadow of light you saw."

"Which would be why my Grandparents wouldn't have had it." I began to understand finally. "It does not bring us closer to a resolution, nor a time-frame."

"No, but it gives us a starting point. I don't think it will kill us, and the consensus at the time from Mithrandir, Galadriel and Elrond was that only a very small part of our whole spirit was in our mortal form. The rest was simply waiting for the body that could truly house it. Elves... we have a connection. To the earth, to the land, to the sky and sea, to the Valar themselves that mortal men can't ever emulate. Some of the things we do – the way we heal so well, our physical strength and vitality, our _light..._ it's difficult to explain." She paused, trying to find the words. "What seems day to day for us – the way I can speak to a child in the womb, remedies that call upon the nature of the plant as well as it's chemical properties... To mortals it's almost like magic. It's like walking around in a bubble. A very clear, very thin bubble, to be sure but it cuts us... _them_ off just enough."

" Their senses are dulled and trapped, they cannot _see _as we can. That is not to say that they are truly anything less than we are, but they are different and will only become more estranged." Father added thoughtfully.

"But what of Grandmother and Grandfather?" I asked, and I felt Mum tense.

"I don't know. I can't know for sure, but they aren't tied like your Dad and I are. We need to work out just what the hell we're going to do because the rest of my theory hinges on experimenting and a degree of preparation."

"You would use your connection to anchor your consciousness here." I said slowly. "But would that not cause damage to your mortal... oh."

"And the circle completes." Dad said drily, squeezing my hand. "The irony is not lost, believe me."

"Then you must strengthen that link as best you can. Even then, there is no guarantee that it will work. For two bodies to share the same soul, I am certain that it will be unpleasant, and difficult. You must speak to the Lady, I implore you, for she knows more about our souls than any other."

"I will Lita, but right now there isn't a hurry. It won't be soon – I'm fairly certain that the right length of time hasn't passed yet. Maybe another five hundred years and we'll be getting somewhere."

"I know Lady Galadriel seeks to speak to those who may be able to see into the other realm." I said, leaning against Mum again. "Gods, this is a nightmare."

"We'll get through it. It's something this family is particularly good at." She said with a little humour, her head against my own.

"Do you ever wish you were mortal, still?"

My question seemed to catch her off guard and she blinked as I felt her slight discomfort and confusion wash over me for a moment. "Occasionally, but I miss things that you wouldn't understand so much. I miss the music, I miss the freedom, and the freedom of expression. I tried to make sure you all had as much of that freedom as I could muster, and I think it's proof now that we were at least in part successful. I mean, Tori is only just having kids and if Amdiriel is getting married any time soon I'll eat my boots."

I giggled then, a little tearfully. "As a mortal, you never knew this world. Did you ever think of having children?"

Dad looked suddenly interested and Mum flushed. "Yes, once or twice. Oh, you can stop that right now! I didn't even know you existed except in a book where you were vaguely mentioned for like a chapter, and for the most part you were busy insulting Gimli."

"Ah, and this time I only vaguely insulted Gimli, and spent rather more time accidentally insulting everyone else in my haste to speak to your sisters."

"What would my name have been, had I been a mortal child?" I asked curiously the moment the idea popped into my head, and Dad let out a bark of laughter.

"Now, we in fact had this discussion. You have a mortal name as well as an Elvish one – not that we ever said. You all do, in fact – even your cousins have mortal names, though I know not if your Aunts ever told them of them."

"By cousins you mean Amdiriel and Thúlië I suppose, and not Osellë?" I felt her nod

"Indeed. If you must know, your full name is Litawen Amelia Katherine Richards." Mum told me. "Amelia means strength, and Katherine means pure. Richards was my surname – something mortals will use more and more; it was to define houses originally, I think."

" Amelia Katherine. I like Amelia." I tried the names out on my tongue with a smile. "What of Callon and Gelluion?"

"Derrick Andrew was for Callon, and Caleb Morgan was for Gelluion, I believe. We were so irritated by trying to pick names for twins we did cease, but those are the names I last recall. It was an exercise for our own amusement more than anything else." Dad told me, one hand stroking my hair as he had when I was a child.

"I think I had to throw a book at you to accept Derrick, but I won out." Mum laughed, her head dropping back. "You'll have to ask Jade what she named Thúlië and Amdiriel, because I genuinely can't remember. Now, do we know if Tori's having a boy or a girl yet?"

"She refuses to say." I said with a grimace. "Most frustrating, I assure you."

Mum frowned. "Maybe she was just waiting for me; a midwife, to have a final check everything is okay."

"Hmmm, no, not that. Osellë came to see Amdiriel and Tori flat out refused. She said something about it driving everyone mad not knowing and so only she and Legolas know. Not even Thranduil, nor Lady Sileveth, know of the child's gender."

"Well, isn't that interesting. It's almost as if she's asking for us to wager on it." Mum said thoughtfully. "Girl."

"Considering the prevalence of women in this family, I also expect a girl." Father agreed.

"Interesting, I'll put you down." I turned to look at my Father, his silvery fair hair a fan about him as he stared at the ceiling, and then grimaced as I realised he had dragged his own mud-covered boots across my once-clean bedding. "You are as bad as my brothers." I kicked his leg solidly with a nod of my head, and Mum chuckled at the gesture. "I, for the record, have now been banned from wagers just in case I happen to see it – it is as if you do not trust me to tell the truth if a dream did come upon me."

"Of course not. What would you have wagered?"

"A boy, obviously. Most have gone for a girl – I am taking note of all the wagers now as I cannot take part except for my own enjoyment." I pouted. "That said, I do not know if I am picking that it will be a boy simply out of obstinate determination. The way she carries suggests a girl."

"I'm going to try and cop a feel of her bump, whether she likes it or not." Mum got a determined look about her. "Get as many wagers in that you've got left – within the next few days, maybe even tonight, we'll bloody well know."

**xxxXxxx**

_Not dead, then._

I heard Elrohir's voice in my mind as Mum and I entered the hall for dinner, a few waves in greeting as we passed by. His hand caught mine and pulled it to his lips before letting us wander on.

_Do not be an ass, my dear._ I let the thought drift to him before getting caught by Mum.

"Ah, Lady Bernadette, a pleasure it is indeed." I heard Thranduil speak in his customary drawl. "And Lady Litawen - like mother like daughter, for where one seems to be the other will now be certain to follow."

"Thranduil, lovely to see you too." She greeted the King easily, ignoring his jibe and grasping his arm like a warrior might as he strolled languidly from the corner he and his wife seemed to prefer to watch from. Dinner was an open affair – great tables laid and food left for people to come and go as they pleased, regularly topped up by maids and kitchen porters. I curtsied instead as he bowed his head in greeting to me, keeping our distance lest we aggravate one another.

"If you do not find out what that wretched woman is having, I will not forgive you." He spoke under his breath.

"I'm on it." She returned, winking just once. "What did you wager?"

"I was not aware of a wager." His brows rose, and I grinned before I could stop myself – his wife, Lady Sileveth, had already placed a wager for a girl and I told him so promptly. "Tasteless and baseless, every one of you and my wife is included in that number. That said, I do hope for a boy."

"So do I, but regrettably I am banned from all wagers from now on." I tapped my head with a grimace. "Speaking of the lady, have you seen my Aunt?"

"If my son is continuing as he has for the last six months, then I imagine she is strapped to a chair so that she cannot move without his say so. It is a shame none have yet wagered on his demise for I am certain that it will be any day now..." He began, but turned just as Tori stormed through the dining room, Legolas hot on her heels and in a slight panic. "Then again, she has always fought against slowing down as her child grows. Perhaps Legolas is finally taking her to task for her behaviour." He murmured and I nodded, wincing slightly before sitting down next to Elrohir.

"And pigs might fly." Elrohir said in my ear and I snorted, leaning back against him as he pressed a roll of bread into my hand. "Where is your Father?"

"He _had _gone to find Legolas with my brothers, but..." I stopped when Legolas finally caught up with his fiery wife. "Hush now, the dramatics begin." I placed a finger to his lips and he bit gently before moving my hand away, returning half-heartedly to his dinner.

"Victoria... _Lalaith_, please, for the baby's sake if not for your own. Storming about like this will do neither of you any good." There was silence between them as she turned, staring him down, and I fought not to hear the raging argument between them that I gathered was rather due to Legolas treating her as if she were made of glass.

"I think her blood pressure's high. She's underweight, over-tired... oh God, I'm going to kill her." Mum's eyes scanned her meticulously, still stood by Thranduil who loomed behind where I sat. "And you say she won't let anyone near her to check her out?"

"Not a one." I confirmed, Thranduil wincing as Legloas reached out to take her hand, only for her to bat it back angrily. Tori seemed to snap and snarled at him, and expression that amused me to no end as it reminded me of a kitten attempting ferocity. Hands on her hips, the swell of her stomach was only emphasised further in the tunics she so preferred to wear above dresses.

"No, Legolas, and you know what you can do?" She then went on to describe quite graphically what he could do with his opinion. She barely even noticed us as she walked right past, making a beeline for Lady Sileveth, but then paused and turned. Her deep scowl lightened into a blooming smile as she saw her sister for the first time since they had left the coast.

"Hi, Benny, it's so good to see you. I've missed you so much." She reached out for a hug and Mum stole the opportunity, placing one arm about her back and the other at her temple. In a moment her eyes rolled and her legs were gone from underneath her as Mum muttered a quiet chant to convince her mind to rest and I heard it go from raging to still in the beat of her heart.

"Aaaand down we go. Lita, Elrohir, give me a hand will you?" I jumped up as my husband did and took her other arm, lowering her to a bench and then letting her rest flat along it as Elrohir lifted her legs in place

"I trust the matter is now in hand?" Thranduil asked, brows raised.

"It will be, once I've murdered her and brought her back again." Mum grumbled. "Greenleaf, give us a hand will you? I'd like to get her laid out on a bed for a bit so I can do a full check. Why didn't Osellë do this when she visited?"

"Tori hit her, Aunty Benny." I looked up and saw Ami hovering just behind Legolas whose face was a strange mixture of relief and fear. "Or tried to, anyway – Aunty Osellë is quick on her feet."

"She had better be. Hi, you." Legolas hugged Mum as she stood, a brotherly embrace not unlike those I shared with Callon and Gelluion. "God, why didn't you bring me sooner?"

"I tried, she intercepted the letters. Pregnancy has _not_ suited her – if we recall how she gave herself an infection in Gondor?" He sighed, eyes closing. "She's going to hate you, Benny." He picked up his sleeping wife then, nodding to Thranduil who watched us still with a calculating gaze. "Father."

"Legolas; once you have your wife settled I would speak to both you and the Lady Bernadette regarding quite how we will manage the next three months. I will not have her injure herself or her child and if that means keeping her asleep until she is due then I am not averse to such action."

"Mother will not let you, nor will I."

"Yes, and that is entirely the problem. She has been permitted to run untamed and now she suffers for it." Thranduil snapped, making to return to his table where his wife looked anxiously on at the scene.

"Father, have you finally come to admit _care_ about her?" Legolas asked, both sly and slightly incredulous. The King did not answer, his hand flying up in dismissal as his robes fluttered behind him. However, the bright flare of his mind was enough for me to feel content that he had come to care about the wayward forest guard his son had come to love, at least enough to fear for her safety that she seemed so intent on disregarding.

"I suppose it is as close as I shall get." Legolas said to himself, staring down at the fair lady who now remained unconscious before him in his arms warily. "Come then, I suppose we should arrange for her to be more comfortable... and perhaps tie her down, for she will _not_ be pleased when she wakes."

"You coming, Lita?" Mum asked me and I looked back to Elrohir who nodded

"Go, I shall tell Haldir and your brothers where you have gone when at last they arrive. I am certain Callon and Gelluion are wreaking havoc somewhere as they are so prone to." Elrohir assured me, offering a quick kiss before Ami took my hand and pulled me

I followed behind Mum and Legolas who were talking amicably about the last few months, I trailing behind arm-in-arm with Amdiriel. Often now I could hear her thoughts and she was growing, day by day, to be able to respond to them and hear my own – a true partnership.

_So, how did it go? _

_We have some ideas. I shall speak to you in more detail once we have seen that Tori is well. When will Jade and Glorfindel arrive? _

_Mum wrote from the Lady's halls last week saying that they would be here towards the end..._ her voice seemed to disconnect from my mind and she cursed. "...of this week. Damnation, I wish I found this so easy as you."

_Ha! _I taunted her easily, childishly pleased that my skill was developing so much more quickly now.

"Shut up, Litawen."

_Make me._

"This is such an abuse of your power and skill." Amdiriel grumbled.

_Oh, let me have a little fun! I cannot stand all of the doom and gloom for too long, it makes me maudlin._

"Ai, Litawen, you do vex me quit thoroughly!" Amdiriel launched herself at me and pushed me into a wall as I laughed, letting the tension ease from my shoulders as I did so.

_I know you can hear me, Litawen Amelia Katherine. Desist, or I'll tell Tori you knocked her out._

_Oh, she brings out my full name – I am wounded! I can project images, so I'll win._

"Lita, seriously, behave before I regret telling you to train with the Lady." Mum sighed, rubbing her temples. "Has she wound you all up quite this way for the last 6 months?

"Aunty Benny, she has been this way for the last two and a half thousand years. She has just learned of other ways to be as irritating as possible." Amdiriel said with far too much glee from beside me and I wrinkled my nose at her.

"Goodness gracious, is maturity not a word any of you understand?" Mum rolled her eyes, walking backwards as she stared us down. "Don't answer that, I don't actually want to know."

"We are here, you can continue your bickering as you see fit when Victoria is settled."

As soon as my Aunt was laid out on the bed Mum sat by her, first taking her temperature and then other essentials. "Legolas, she is _so_ underweight for her term. We have to get her weight up, and reduce her activity because her blood pressure is through the roof – she's going to do herself some damage if she doesn't stop soon. I don't agree with Thranduil's phrasing, but if it means slowing her down a bit then we might have to do it."

"I know it, but what can I do that I have not already done?"

"We need to put the fear into her a little bit – I'm going to tell her she fainted in my arms, not that I knocked her out; she won't know the difference if we all agree that we'll stick to that story. I know she's been bothered about people checking the baby – do you know why?" Mum asked Legolas, who was now sitting at the other side of the bed, holding Tori's hand with a thumb running over her knuckles.

"No – one morning she woke absolutely adamant that only she or I would ever reach the child." He looked concerned then. "I have taken what advice I can to check the babe and all does seem to be well, but I confess I cannot be sure." Mum sighed, but her nod was a decisive one.

"I'm going to do it, Legolas – she's my sister and I love her, but more importantly now I need to check that she hasn't affected the little one. She's a good size from the outside." Her hands swept over the swell of her abdomen tenderly before settling, her eyes fluttering closed. "Well hello, little monster." She spoke out loud after a moment. "I know, she has been terrible hasn't she. Let's take a look, hmm?"

We all stared with bated breath as her eyes moved below their lids, and then they flew open as a small but blissful smile formed.

"Well, a little underweight but nothing we need to be truly concerned about if we slow her down and get her eating properly. Heart is strong and steady, so all of the problems are with Tori herself which is infinitely more manageable and now I'm here I can tell her off. Seriously, what have Mum and Dad been doing?"

"Trying just as we all have, but Victoria is possibly the most stubborn of all three of you as well you know." Legolas laughed, looking truly relieved. "I am glad they are both well enough."

"Well, now it's a joint effort to keep it that way. One of us will be with her at all times, stalking her if needs be, making sure she eats three solid meals a day whether she likes it or not. If she isn't sleeping right I'll get her to go under – by choice or not. Her brain isn't handling pregnancy well, her hormones aren't naturally telling her what to do. Did the sickness ease quickly? I remember she was starting with it when you came over here."

"Only a month – it eased rapidly after that." Legolas confirmed as Mum stood, straightening her tunic with a smirk. "Otherwise it has been easy, which is why I suspect she has given little care or thought to needing to care for herself more."

"Good, and Lita? I hope you wrote down Thranduil's wager. You owe him money." Mum told me as she headed towards the door.

"No!" I gaped, jaw truly dropping. "I was so certain she was carrying differently!"

"What? What are you both talking about?" Amdiriel stared between us. "Did you see what she will be having?" My cousin all but squeaked her question, excitement taking over what little calm she had retained throughout the examination.

"Can I tell her? Please?" Mum asked Legolas pleadingly, clasping her hands together in a gesture of prayer, and he snorted.

"On your own head be it – Victoria was adamant on the secret because she enjoyed how much it was winding up Father."

"Well, he'll find out anyway." Mum rolled her eyes. "May as well get his gloating over and done with now, and let he and whoever else have their winnings." She pointed out, and Legolas shrugged as if he had not really thought of the whole ordeal in such away.

"True, that is true enough. Go ahead, Benny, lest you burst with the anticipation of it all." Legolas turned back to look at Tori, his hand still grasping her own and the other at her abdomen, a smile of his own blooming as Mum finally gushed the secret that had been kept for 6 long months.

"A boy. She's having a boy."

* * *

**N'awww! Thranduil will be pleased. Or maybe not... It's sometimes hard to tell! Lots of love, and let me know what you thought of this one! See you soon :)**


	18. Two Thousand, Six Hundred & Ten

**Hi everyone! **

**You know you're too involved in your story when... you have dreams about reviews, or more precisely nightmares! I kid you not. As such...**

**Just so we're clear – I'm playing with The Lord of the Rings, we're so far from canon it's not even funny, and I call Thranduil both "Lord" and "King" . This depends on who is speaking to him, how familiar, and if they were from Middle Earth where they'd have known him as a King or from Aman when they probably wouldn't have. Okay? Okay! **

**Aaaand breathe. I totally had a little freak-out to myself last night when I woke up thinking I'd had scathing reviews about the above! **

**Your reviews are totally amazing, honestly, and they make my day completely. Also, Monday is THE day! I have my first INSET day and I'll be treated as a proper teacher from the get-go. Eek! My other half and I are also house-shopping, which is fun indeed.**

**Lots of love, **

**MM -x**

* * *

"I hate you."

"Lovely. Pass the jam." Mum ignored my sister, buttering her bread and then running the strawberry spread over it. Tori, still too stunned to say little more, did as she asked as we ate breakfast together on the small patio outside of the rooms she and Legolas shared. "Thank you."

"She doesn't hate you." I assured my Mum, ignoring Tori who was scowling now.

"I _am_ here."

"I know she doesn't, trouble, but quite frankly I don't care if she does or if she doesn't." Mum shrugged, taking a quick gulp of her tea before it became too cool.

"_Oi_!" Tori huffed. "I'm right here, you know."

"Blimey, where did you come from?" Mum exclaimed sarcastically, hand do her chest before she continued to spread the butter and jam over her bread. "I assume you have a point?"

"I don't understand. I just... fainted?" Tori looked skeptical.

"Yep. Open." Tori frowned as she was about to ask Mum what she meant, only for Mum to promptly shove half of the roll directly into my Aunt's open mouth. "Now eat." Mum tapped her chin and

"I realluh huft yoo." She said as she tore the bread, chewing with a dark expression. Swallowing, she glared at us both. "I haven't fainted since I got my memories back in Mirkwood. I call bullshit."

"You can call it all you like, we all saw you fall." Amdiriel said to her calmly, sipping tea far more elegantly than any of us ever did. "You are under weight, and your son is far too small for his term."

_Exaggeration, my dear one_ I said with my mind as I bowed my eyes to my plate.

_Running with it_ was the phrase that came from my Mum's side as she was speaking to Tori, who was looking rather grey as she ate with a little more haste. "Have a glass of milk with every meal – it will be good for you both. I've heated it first to kill off any bugs, and you should do the same."

"Really? Do I _really_ need to do all of this?"

"Tori, if you don't keep your weight up and eat plenty your energy stores will be so depleted you'll struggle giving birth, and your baby will stay underweight giving him much less of a fighting chance. As for your blood pressure..."

"Don't even, Benny." Tori snapped, throwing her bread down. "Interfere with my food all you like, because I'll agree I'm probably a bit on the thin side, but I am otherwise perfectly healthy."

"You're verging on gaunt; don't you dare try to call it 'a bit' when you're practically skeletal. Do you know what can happen when your blood pressure is too high?"

"More fainting?" She said with a guess, and Mum snorted just as Ami did the same.

"Not nearly, Aunty Tori. If left unchecked and the cause not found, you risk fits and problems with your child receiving sustenance from the womb. A babe then born too early, or one starved of essential nutrition and air. You _must_ relax, and please ensure that you do so for several hours a day. You cannot continue to hunt or run around as you have been doing."

Tori was rather silent then for a time, before she spoke with a small sob. "I shouldn't be doing this. I don't know what I'm doing! I've got a child growing inside of me and everything is going to change and..."

"Tori, stop it. Look at me." Mum turned and took her hands firmly in her own. "Pregnancy isn't as natural for you – that's fine. A lot of ladies struggle in exactly the same way, but they aren't nearly so stubborn as you are. You have to let us help you and look after you, and rest now because trust me; when he comes, you won't remember what it means to actually sleep, I swear down."

My Aunt looked indecisive then for a moment before nodding, chewing on her lip. "I can't promise I will, but I'll try. Okay?"

"For now, and we'll see how we go this week. Now we have a deal, we can get on acting like civilised people not the raging hormonal demon that I saw yesterday." Mum said firmly

"I wish you hadn't told anyone. It was my only bargaining chip to get Thranduil to at least speak to me civilly." Tori's hands ran over her bump with a sad sigh.

Mum and I eyed each other, well aware that this wasn't the case at all for he had looked as concerned as we had "That isn't true any more, and you know it." Mum told her tenderly, brushing away a tear from her youngest sister's cheek. "He's an ass to me and he actually likes me, so don't think that just because he's acerbic he doesn't like you. I don't know how his wife puts up with him."

"The same way you put up with Dad, I imagine." I laughed, and Tori giggled then, albeit with a hint of tears.

"Tolerate. I tolerate Haldir being his arselike self." She corrected. "Anyway, as we have three months to go you can enjoy our company all you like with minimal stress."

"What about Litawen's creepy dreams?"

"Lita's creepy dreams can, thankfully, wait. I think we're about 500 years away from any of that hysteria just yet and I sort of have a vague plan that I'm going to talk to the Lady about at a later date. You and your little monster will be perfectly safe, I promise, so I don't want you to even think about it." Mum said sternly. "That goes for all of you. Unless we hear any more, or your dream changes, we have plenty of time to plan. Okay?"

"Hear, hear. Goodness, you got... round." I grinned, waving to my brothers who had entered the room slyly and rather silently.

"Hi, Callon, I love you too." Tori said drily, looking up at my little brother with a slight smirk. "You really do know how to compliment a lady."

"You look lovely, Aunty T." Gel said, crouching beside me. "And how are you, my charming big sister?" His eyes, the same silver as Dad's glinted up in the early morning light. "Did your bedding survive?"

"Sadly not, Father made quite the hash of it and I had to change it. Most frustrating, I do declare." I said with a dramatic sigh. "Have you any plans today? If not, I thought you might enjoy a little of the local sport. I suspect your bow skills have long been neglected of late."

"I could be persuaded." Gel dropped onto his behind, sitting on the floor and leaning against a curved stone arch.

"I'll come! I can show you all of the best spots to..."

"Ahem." Mum cleared her throat, starting pointedly at my Aunt whose face fell.

"Oh. Well, erm, maybe some other time." She mumbled awkwardly, and I shared a worried glance with Amdiriel. She sounded so utterly deflated, and I worried that Mum did not understand her need to remain active – even a stroll through the woods which would seem a lot to Mum would be little more than a bat of an eyelid to my Aunt.

_Confining her will only stress her more, and affect her state of mind._ I broadcast to those listening, and Mum froze just a little before nodding subtly to herself – and to me.

"You can join them, just keep it steady. Go on horseback or walk instead of running, and no clambering in trees. It's about finding the balance, and knowing your limits. You've pushed them too far, lovely." Mum offered a lopsided smile. "You know me, I run for stress relief and that's it. Exercise is totally not my game."

Tori nodded, and I felt her joy bloom once more as she smiled – the first true smile I'd seen in quite some time. "I think I understand."

"I know you do. You're stupid but I love you and I'm your big sister, so pointing out the stupid shit you do is my job. Now, eat another bread roll and a few of those boiled eggs – hard boiled, sorry. No salmonella-breeding dippy-eggs and soldiers for you."

Tori winced, picking up an egg in her hand and weighing it disdainfully. "I hate being pregnant. I so hope he's worth it." She joked before peeling the shell away with a sigh.. "I swear to God, this is my only child. Sorry, little one." Tori told her stomach beneath her tunic.

"I somehow doubt that." Callon told her with a pat to her shoulder before dropping to sit beside his brother. "I would hate to be an only sibling."

"Aren't you lucky that you have two? You two look very... twinny today." I observed as I finished my breakfast – ravenous for not eating properly the day before. "Even in matching braids! What on earth is the occasion?"

"Well of course." Callon said as if I were simple. "First day in a new place – we do have a reputation to maintain, after all." Gelluion nodded.

"It is a wasted journey if we have not befuddled a few unsuspecting souls, after all." He added, crossing his ankles before him. "I forget, has Lady Sileveth ever met us?" He asked his twin who frowned uncertainly.

"And on that note, I think I'll hide away and lock my bedroom door. Have a good day, children and crazy pregnant lady." Mum snorted. "Try not to get into too much trouble, the lot of you, and if you upset Sileveth I will not hesitate to set your Grandparents and Thranduil on you. Tori, you will be given food regularly and I expect you to eat it every time."

"I rather think I shall do the same, and you know I have no taste for hunting. I shall see you later, Litawen." Ami said with humour, standing as Mum did and bowing her head. "Remember what we said, Aunty. I love you too much to see you hurt."

"I know, now bugger off." Tori said as Ami crouched to kiss her abdomen. "He says hello, by the way."

"Hello, little one." She whispered back with a giggle before twirling after Mother in a mass of skirts, and I shook my head fondly. Callon and Gelluion quickly occupied their chairs before they were cold, helping themselves to food like gannets.

"Pigs, the both of you. Now, a gentle stroll and a spot of shooting?"

"Done, and done." Tori stood swiftly but I eyed her plate where the eggs and bread remained untouched. My brothers and I stared at her until she sat down with a grimace, removing the remaining shell and taking a bite rather more dramatically than was strictly necessary. She swallowed it and opened her mouth to prove that she had done so before taking another bite with equal distaste, muttering under her breath as she did it. "Damn you all."

"Less talking, more eating."

**xxxXxxx**

I knew Tori was in labour long before any other, simply for watching her. Even by my Mum's standards she had considerably slowed, and though she usually handled pain so well none spotted it, I saw the very slightest of winces as she pressed one hand slyly to the bottom of her now full stomach. She was, unsurprisingly, a little over the date they had been blessed with their babe, but Mum had assured both she and Legolas repeatedly that it would only do more good for little boy who would have otherwise been smaller than he should have been.

It was later in the evening and I was laid with my head on Elrohir's lap, reading an old tale of Middle Earth. I lowered the book and gazed into the light of the candle, desperately willing a vision to come to me that all would be well.

The surface of the flame turned glassy, and for the briefest of moments I was submerged in the sounds of a crying child, exhausted laughter, and the sound of gentle tears; it was enough to assure me that all would be well. Elrohir was now looking down at me with a cocked brow, and I tilted my head to nod towards Tori who was wandering around the library with a book in her hand as if she were reading. Only the three of us were in the small room, warmed by the fire in the cool of the late winter; Mum and Dad with Thranduil and Legolas discussing some trouble or another my brothers had caused in the setting free of horses, and some problem with the kitchens I had kept myself firmly out of for my own sake.

_She is ready. _I let my mind wander to Elrohir's, curling myself in the sensation of his loving heart and his strength.

_I thought as much. Let Legolas know, as calmly as you may, for she will not wish to rouse a rabble. _

_I think we have a little time yet – it is very early._

We continued to watch her become more and more restless over the following hour, her discomfort more clear upon her face until she stopped still and the book she carried fell from her fingertips. She staggered a little, hands at her stomach, and it was apparent then she could no longer hide the contractions that signalled her little boy's oncoming birth.

"Okay, help would be good right about now." She gasped, leaning on the back of a chair with a grimace. "Fuck me," she muttered in English as she shook herself once the contraction eased.

"I rather think that is what got you into this position in the first place." I answered bluntly, standing.

"Cheeky." She snorted as Elrohir stared at me, rather taken aback by my quip. "Oh, stop it, you've heard far cruder from us over the years. Laughing helps."

" I know." I rubbed her back in soothing circles, trying to will whatever positivity and strength into her that I could manage. "I shall go and get your good-for-nothing husband. Why do the men in this family insist on leaving their heavily pregnant wives just as they are due to give birth? It astounds me, it really does." I sighed.

"I shall take her to their rooms." Elrohir told me. "Bring Legolas there, and tell Benny to leave it well alone. She knows that if they need help, they will ask for it."

I grinned. "I shall tie her down if I have to."

"Oh, you'll have to. Fucking _ow_, what the hell is that?" Tori whimpered as another contraction hit, and I winced as I left rather more quickly after that.

I made my way to the study I knew Legolas and Mother frequented, knocking and awaiting an answer. "Enter!"

"Good evening, I did not expect to see you." I bowed my head to Thranduil, who sat with my entire family but for myself, Elrohir and Victoria. "We were in the library and I confess, I did wonder why we were so solitary!"

"A break from Tori, maybe?" J smirked, and I wrinkled my nose.

"Quite." _Legolas, stay very still and make no movement to suggest I am speaking to you. I need you to remain very, very calm. _"So what have you been discussing?" I sat by Legolas who threw his arm around me and prodded me firmly. _You have the idea. Tori is in labour._

"Life, the universe, and how to make Tori pop." Mum supplied with a laugh.

He barely moved a muscle, to his credit. _Good, stay a moment longer, and then say that you should probably check on Tori seeing as I have abandoned her. Elrohir has taken her to your chambers. _

Legolas squeezed my arm again in understanding and I felt his overwhelming love for his wife, his fear, his excitement all in one. "I suppose you have a wager?" He asked easily, and Glorfindel shrugged.

"But of course. What is it at now, Haldir?"

"I genuinely know not without looking at the sheet. I do apologise my friend, but you have fairly primed yourself for it." Dad offered a consolatory grin.

"Charming, the lot of you. In that case, I think I shall see the lady in question and leave you to your plotting – I would not leave her in Elrohir's clutches for I suspect I would find them brawling with her current penchant to take a swing at anyone who irritates her. If you will excuse me, Father?"

"Of course." Thranduil said, examining his bejewelled hand blandly as his son stood, bowing his head. "The sooner this child comes the better for all involved."

"I shall drink to that." Callon said, raising his wine glass sporting a rather blackened eye. "I swear that she has the strength of ten men, even with child."

"Indeed. Enjoy your evening." Legolas chuckled, leaving to go to the door. I heard his thanks, messily projected but projected nonetheless.

_You're welcome. Look after her, and I wish you the utmost joy and love._ The door clicked shut and I sat back, crossing my legs underneath me. Thranduil was staring right at me, blue eyes sharp and intent, and I understood right away that he knew just what was going on and desired to speak on it. _You are correct – Mother will make such a scene when she realises, so we thought this way was best. The minute she finds out she will be on her feet, so be on your guard, and congratulations on your grandson. _

Thranduil raised his glass to me and took a sip of his wine, his wife catching the gesture and smiling so slightly that I thought I had missed it. She was just as devious as her husband when she wished to be, and also quite as good an actress as Thranduil and her son.

"How did you come across your black eye, anyway? You never did explain in full." Gelluion asked, one knee drawn to his chest.

"He upset the pregnant lady, is what he did. What precisely was it you said, Callon?" I asked him and he flushed. "Oh, come now! You have been sporting that eye with such pride."

"Litawen..." He warned me, the effect somewhat lost by the fact that he could not blink well.

"He called her fat." Jade supplied succinctly, and every single elf turned to stare at my brother.

"Are you quite mad?" Thranduil asked, genuinely shocked. "Bernadette, I had thought you had raised intelligent, if not somewhat unruly, offspring. Perhaps I was incorrect."

"No, Litawen and I are intelligent enough to make up for the severe lack of tact or good sense my brother has." Gel glared, and then hit his twin firmly over the back of the head. "You fool! It only took us three months to get her to a reasonable weight!"

"And this is why he is single." Jade said, leaning against Glorfindel. "Aren't you glad both of our girls are sensible?"

"I am not certain sensible is the word for Thúlië, love. Gallivanting about the entire of Aman with Maedhros – I doubt we shall see her for some time."

"Poor Maglor, he's only just got the chap back and now he's off again." Mum said with humour. "I do hope Elrond is keeping him busy and entertained... what was that?" Mum stopped speaking just as we all turned towards the door, hearing a cry mixed with a heaving sob. She turned to me sharply, eyes intent, and I shrugged easily as she came to realise just what was going on. "Jesus, she's having the baby isn't she?"

"Yes... Grab her!" I shouted but Thranduil was already upon his feet and holding Mum's hands firmly behind her back.

"I think not, Lady Bernadette. Sit, I thank you, and Lord Elrohir is on hand should they need assistance. You are too involved to make an accurate judgement upon your sister's health." He commanded quietly in her ear and she stilled before he let her hands go free. Dad pulled her back to her seat – keeping a tighter hold, I noticed - and she relented to be held as her nerves shot up.

"Lita, I suppose you let Legolas know?" I nodded as Jade grinned. "You so need to teach me how to do that. I miss mind-talking." She eyed her husband, and I decided I did not really wish to know quite what they would be sharing.

"It might be beneficial." I shrugged. "If not amusing, at any rate."

"True, creepy dreams and all of that." Mum said, clearly trying to distract herself as we heard Tori cry again into the night.

"You never did explain this dream in full." Thranduil said thoughtfully. "Though Lady Amdiriel did mention it briefly in passing."

"I will explain all, I swear to you. Not tonight, however. Tonight is a night for joy and celebrating." I said firmly.

"Well said... Oh, come in darling!" Jade waved in Ami who stuck her head through the door, shortly followed by my Grandparents who looked slightly on edge. "Welcome to the gathering of those who wait."

"So Tori's in labour then? Thank the Valar, at last." Grandmother sighed with relief, leaning on my shoulders and kissing my forehead in greeting.

The night was a long one, and even well after the sun rose not a one of us left the study until, with a little perspiration upon his brow, Elrohir entered the room and bowed before dropping to the settee next to me.

"The birth was not as easy as I would have hoped. Victoria suffered some bleeding after the birth – I think in line with the other difficulties she faced in the pregnancy and also the old injuries she sustained upon the Pelennor. I have given her a number of draughts to encourage the replenishing of her blood and now all is well, though she will remain weak for a few days. I cannot be certain if the bleeding will have any affect on future children, for it is too soon to tell, but again I assure you both mother and son are well. "

I took his hand, lacing his fingers through my own and leaning upon his shoulder with a content smile. "Congratulations, my Lord and Lady. You have a beautiful Grandson, with a shock of hair as black as his Father's and eyes as green as his Mother's. A name they have not yet come by, but I am certain it will be a strong one. If any wish to visit you may of course; I only ask it is in small groups, because you all know her penchant to become overexcited and she needs to heal."

"They have all the time they need." Lady Sileveth said, dabbing at her eyes. "Aurae, will you join me?"

My Grandmother's beam was a tearful one as she took her Lady's arm. "Of course, my Lady."

**xxxXxxx**

"Liiiitaaaaa." I heard a childlike chorus behind me, and I turned with my hands on my hips to look down at the monstrosity that was my youngest cousin and his playmate, the stable master's son. "Come and play!" I glanced at the bow I was meticulously restringing and rolled my eyes – I had forgotten just quite what it was like to have a rambunctious child running mad about the place.

He was but twenty-five years old, the age I had been when I first came to these shores, and in his eyes I saw the same curiosity and boundless imagination... and the same trouble. "Now, Master Orelion, I know if you're looking for my company you are trying to hide some mischief." I crouched to the ground and eyed them both. "And you, little horse-master." I eyed the fair-haired boy speculatively and he blushed a little. I gestured for them both to come closer, and then whispered in the language of his mother and of mine. "What have you done so far?"

Orelion looked about before leaning over and whispering in my ear. "We have put frogs in the King's bed!" He giggled and I fought not to groan – this was the third time this week . "He went in his room just after we did it!"

"A little less pride, young sir... now hide, quickly, I shall cover for you as always. You should run and hide elsewhere, so as to " I ushered Orelion under the woodworking bench I used in the yard near the stables and sent his friend away, going back to my work and stomping my foot whenever my devilish ward made too much noise.

"Lady Litawen, have you seen my grandson?"

I looked up at Thranduil who was storming through the yard with a face like thunder, and closed my eyes before speaking. It was about time Orelion learned a little about consequences that had been somewhat missing from his prankster's education – my brothers and I had always been careful in our jokes after only one or two scoldings and it was high time my cousin suffered the same. "I'm afraid not, my Lord. May I ask why you seek him?"

I spoke out loud, but with my hand I pointed downward under the bench. "That is a shame, indeed, for I would thank him for his... thoughtful gift."

"Shall I pass the message on?" I asked him, and I saw at last his amusement rather than his anger at the whole situation in hand.

"If you would be so kind. I shall see you at dinner."

Thranduil made noise as if to move away, but instead simply moved out of the way and I ducked down to see Orelion's lamplike green eyes gazing up at me trustingly.

"I think we are safe, little monster. Come." I held out my hand to pull him out, dusting him off to ensure no hair nor shavings lingered upon his person.

"Well, that was a close one.. ai!" His distraction was just enough for Thranduil to seize the opportunity to swoop down upon him and drag him up by his waist, throwing the cringing child over his shoulder as he carried him back towards the halls.

"Come, my Grandson – today, we shall learn about respect, and the consequences of ones actions."

"Litawen, help me!" Orelion shouted, pounding against the shoulders of the King with his small fists.

"Oh, your cousin cannot help you now, so you will accept your fate and desist. When I am done with you, I shall release you to your Mother who I am certain will have rather a lot to say to you on the matter." Thranduil told the boy lightly, and his wailing was enough to set my heart thudding just a little with guilt.

"Please, not Mum! She will kill me!" Orelion looked horrified, his eyes wide with terror.

"As is her right as your Mother. That does not hurt me, little demon, so continue as you like. Fouler things than you have bounced off my back with little more than a scratch." The smooth voice of the King washed over me, with just enough malice to make me shiver. If any of those foul things were like those my family faced in the past, it was enough to set fear into my heart forever.

**xxxXxxx**

"Hey Lita, where are the twins?" Orelion's head popped around my door as I wrote to the Lady, advising her in our regular correspondence what visions I had prompted and if there had been any change to the one which still blackened my vision at night.

"Who knows?" I laughed. "They come and go as they please – you know this."

Orelion was one hundred and ten and full grown, and after his naughty childhood he was rather more relaxed and easygoing as a young man. His hair was as black as pitch – as his Father's and as my Mother's, and his eyes had ever remained green even from his first blinking gazes after his birth. He was tall as his Father and Grandfather, rather thankfully, but in his face he looked so like Mum it was astounding.

"True, true. I had hoped to shoot with them." He sighed. "You are no fun, you best me every time and I have absolutely no hope of ever winning!"

"That is why you should practice with me, for it would force you to get better. Uncle Glorfindel still bests me most times, and your Father too when I dare to shoot with him." I laughed, putting my quill down. "I still beat your Mum every time, even now she is as skilled as ever she was in Mirkwood – or so she says."

"Mum is a lot of talk." Orelion wiggled his brows, and then closed the door behind him as he invited himself in. "How is Elrohir?"

"Your guess, my dear cousin, is as good as mine." I sighed. Elrohir had gone back to the coast and to his father to research the bonds between spirits, in the hopes of strengthening those between Mum, Tori, J and their respective husbands. He had last written to me two months ago, and I had not heard any more since that time.

"Had any more creepy dreams?"

"You should not know about my dreams, monster." I told him frankly. "How did you hear about them, anyway?"

"I think it was Callon who told me." He shrugged. "Little does it matter that I know – you should utilise the skills that I might bring. I am an excellent researcher when time permits, and I am more scholarly than Mum and Dad, much to their infinite displeasure I'm sure." He grinned. "So, what do you think?"

"I do not know." I said, sitting back upon the small settee and tapping my lips with one finger. "We know what it means, but not when it will come or quite what to do about it."

Orelion sat next to me, drawing his knees to his chin. "I don't wish to see any of you hurt."

"Nor do I... Come in!" I called as a knock on the door startled me from our conversation.

"My Lady, there was an urgent rider for you. He brought this, and did not expect a reply." A maid entered my room with a curtsey, a small tray with a letter folded neatly upon it. She curtsied again by my side as I took it from the platter, noting Elrohir's seal with a surge of pleasure. She was only young, no older than my cousin beside me, and I saw his rather charming smile bloom for her.

"Thank you, that is most kind." I fished a few coins from my purse and gave them to her. "If you happen to see the rider again grant him this, and if not ensure something for yourself."

"I shall, my Lady." She flushed as Orelion smiled again, and I watched as she left until the door shut with a click.

"My brothers are teaching you poor habits – do not be such a mindless flirt."

"I am offended! I do know the lady, she is the sister of a friend." He defended himself staunchly. "Now, what does Elrohir have to say?"

"Never you mind!" I cried, but opened the note anyway and scanned it quickly with a deepening frown. "Well, how odd. Listen;

_My dearest Lita, _

_I am sorry for not writing to you sooner but things here have been rather hectic. A meeting of sorts there has been, between the Lady and my Father but also Mithrandir who I know none have seen in many long years. Regrettably he knows little that might be of use, but we do have another now who may yet be able to speak to the Valar and come to know at what time we are in the other world. _

_That said, there is one other whose acquaintance I have made that I did not ever expect. They know rather more than any on the lore of the soul and may yet be our link to keeping those we love safe. _

_We ride out this week, and should you receive this note as I hope then we will be there in the next 7 days. Keep a weather eye on the horizon. _

_I miss you more every day, and my heart longs to see you again. _

_Elrohir."_

Orelion and I stared at one another. "How utterly curious." He said. "No mention of who this stranger is? And who is Mithrandir?"

"Good Valar, for all your studies you are rather woeful in your knowledge." I tutted. "Read upon the War of the Ring, if you have not already, and you shall know of whom we speak."

"Oh, Gandalf! I knew not that he had a name in our tongue. One of the Maia, is he not?"

"You are hopeless – and absolutely in need of a better book, for I assume by that name you read one of my Mother's. He is indeed one of the ancient race, and I do so hope that he can bring some knowledge to us at last. Though I do wonder who this person is, who knows so about the lore of the soul?"

"Could it be another Maia?" Orelion asked with a frown. "It would make sense for a being of such spirit to be one who can see into the soul of another."

"Perhaps, but I truly know not. I must finish this letter Orelion – go, and if you happen across Mum, bring her to me."

"Of course Lita, I shall see you soon." He kissed my cheek and flew from the room, leaving me alone with Elrohir's letter.

"What on earth do you mean, love?" I murmured, tracing his elegant script uncertainly. "Who do you bring?"

* * *

**A bit of jumping about, but ooooh! I hope you all enjoyed, and let me know what you think! :) **


	19. Two Thousand, Six Hundred & Ten Part 2

**Hi everyone! **

**First of all – thank you so much for your patience. I've been so busy these last two weeks with school and I've realised just how much I have to learn! That said, I'm making sure I take time to myself too because as many teachers will attest to, it's very easy to get up at 6am and get in to school for 7, stay there 'til 5pm and work at home until you go to bed! **

**My tattoo, for anyone interested, is finally finished! Check my Deviantart under the same username if you're interested. **

**I hope you enjoy this chapter, and that it makes up for my slight delay! I can't wait for your reviews - you are all amazing :) **

**Lots of love, **

**MM -x**

* * *

**xxxXxxx**

I had not cried once since Elrohir had first found me shortly after I had received the dream for the first time. Before then, I was uncertain as to when I had last cried for tears and melancholy were truly nothing that I desired in my life. Perhaps it was my wedding day, or when one of those I loved wed at last.

However, now I wept out of sheer frustration, out of anger, and because I simply knew not what else to do. Leaning against my Mother I cried as a child might, cursing everyone and everything for the dreams I now received every night so that I could no longer be certain of a fulfilling rest that my damned body seemed so insistent upon needing. It was the early hours of the morning, long before sunrise, and I was sat in Mum's rooms trying to make sense of all that was happening.

"If I had never studied with the Lady, these dreams might not have come so often and so clearly." I hiccuped and sniffed, brushing away the hot tears from my face angrily. I had sought her out whilst Father was away visiting Rumil with the Lady, finding ourselves in shared company more often than not to ease our loneliness.

"Maybe, or you might have had them anyway and thought you were going mad. It's all swings and roundabouts, really." She explained gently, a hand resting on my back and rubbing in circles.

"I do not know what that means." I chuckled, and even Mum laughed a little at that.

"There are as many positives as there are negatives to the whole situation." She clarified. "I wonder who Elrohir is bringing with him? Though if he does bring Gandalf, he and I are having words. I mean, I doubt it will be Radagast simply because I don't even know if he ever returned to these shores. It wouldn't surprise me if he stayed to take care of the land as he always did."

"Perhaps. Oh, I do not know! I feel so restless." I stood, prowling the room in long strides.

"Litawen, sit down, for God's sake." Mum rubbed the bridge of her nose tiredly. "You'll make me dizzy."

"I know it. But everything feels so in the air, so uncertain, that I find I cannot be still." I paused in my continuous pacing, letting my breathing and heart settle a little. "I think I will shoot for a while, for it calms my nerves at the very least."

"In the dark?" She snorted. "I think not. Want to come for a morning run first? I'd rather run with someone than on my own – I feel all wonky."

"Now?" I asked meekly, looking out of the window into the starry night.

"No time like the present. Come on, get yourself ready and we'll be good to go."

We ran together through the woodland around the caves, and on one of the more direct but steep mountain paths that took us by Gimli's grave. Chest heaving after so many hours of running I leaned against the rock, stretching out, before dropping to sit by the smooth stone and resting my cheek against it. Though the spot was secluded and sheltered, the elements had almost worn away the text completely but for the Lady's hair which remained still encased within its gem.

"We should re-carve the words." Mum said absently, her fingers tracing the occasional spot where the words could just be made out. "I still miss him, you know. I wish he could have met Orelion." She pulled her dark hair back into a braid again where it had come free from its bindings. "Legolas regrets that he never had the chance."

"I am certain he watches us from the halls of his Fathers, just as Arwen watches you and Elrohir too." I said, picking up a stone and rolling it in my fingers as she nodded, drawing her knees to her chest. "Legolas feels things very deeply, you know this. He made a friendship that he wished to last far longer in his heart than Gimli's mortal body could withstand." I recalled how desolate Legolas had been after his passing – I had been young still, but I recalled it all with startling and rather harrowing clarity.

"Haven't we all?" Mum replied wistfully, and I knew that she was speaking of Arwen as much as she was Gimli now. "Sorry, that's maudlin even for me. Come on, it's going to take hours to run back."

"Can we not walk?" I moaned as I stood, my muscles protesting at the action. The very thought of the same long run now in the warmth of the afternoon and into the night did not fill me with the same joy it had in my manic state of the early morning.

"If you want it to take days, not hours, then we can totally walk. Do you think you can kill and prepare food with your bare hands?" Mum asked with a drawl and I pulled a sour face.

"Very well, last one to the caves must explain to Thranduil where we have been since before sunrise."

"If we look as sweaty as we do now when we get back, he won't need one. Hopefully we'll return by dinner." Mum glanced at the sky thoughtfully. "Maybe not, we'll see. Come on, let's go."

We ran hard home, down the steep paths of the mountains and the lush greenery of the woods. The afternoon sun dipped lower and lower before us until the first of the stars littered the black-blue of the sky. "Stop, I must stop!" I cried, staggering forward and holding on to the branch of a tree for support.

"We've run... for over twelve hours." Mum gasped, doing the same and flinging herself over the branch at the opposite side. "I think I'm dead. Even Osellë couldn't keep up with that."

I nodded, lost for words, and we simply hung limply catching our breath and trying not to collapse under our own weight.

"Well, you both look... shiny." A voice interrupted our pity-party for two, and I tried to turn my head before flopping down again in defeat. "That was rubbish, Lita."

"Hi Tori." Mum all but panted, turning to the woman who had her bow and quiver in hand, with her other hand on her waist."Carry me home?" She asked pathetically.

"No." She smirked. "Elrohir's here, with Gandalf of all people and this other woman as well. May I suggest looking less... damp?" She eyed us and then, a slight grimace upon her face.

"Can it wait? I want a bath, dinner and bed." Mum moaned again, her head resting against the wood of the branch once more as if she sought to draw strength from it. My own hands were shaking rather violently and occasionally I wondered if I might have made myself sick from the exertion. We had not gone gently in any way, and a journey that would usually take days by foot we had completed in less than a whole day.

"If we sneak you in quietly then maybe." Tori looked dubious, and I noted that she was dressed rather regally in a richly embroidered tunic and an elegant circlet about her brow.

"Somewhere to be?" I asked her tiredly, and she shrugged.

"Not particularly, but Thranduil came to Legolas with a face as white as a sheet telling us Elrohir and his guest had arrived, and that best dress would be advisable."

"Why all the pomp, I wonder?" Mum mused. "Definitely not Gandalf, then?"

"Oh, he's here too – I have his hat." She grinned, and then offered her arms to us both so that we could latch on and walk the short distance back to the caves. "Orelion's fascinated; I swear I don't know where his curiosity comes from. It isn't from me or Legolas, that's for sure."

"I have not seen Mithrandir since we laid Gimli to rest. Does still he walk as an aged man?" I rested my head against her shoulder tiredly, feeling suddenly rather weak and rather nauseous as we began to take steps forward.

"Yes, I know... and he does, oddly! I know the form was by choice and not because he actually looks that way. Wait; you okay, Lita?" My Aunt asked, her voice laced with concern as I staggered a little.

"I fear our run was poorly planned, for now I feel rather sick and perhaps a touch unsteady upon my feet." I admitted, feeling a slightly cool wave across my skin. "I have not eaten all day today, nor at all yesterday."

"Oh, tits." I heard Mum mutter, but the world was spinning and before I knew what was happening, my ears were ringing and my vision sparkled white before blackness took me.

**xxxXxxx**

"Good morning, love." A tender voice stirred me, a hand at my brow brushing free hair away. "One day, you will learn to eat regular meals so that you do not collapse completely upon your poor and rather unsuspecting Aunt."

"I do not recall anything past... past the end of our run. We met Tori, and we spoke for a moment or two, but then..." I frowned, trying to piece together what happened as I reached out instinctively to feel Elrohir close to my heart again. "I cannot remember."

"I am not at all surprised. You had not slept for weeks and not eaten for days; it was bound to happen sooner or later." His dark hair fell in a curtain around me as his lips lingered on my own in a languid greeting, and I heard his words of love inside my mind even as he repeated them aloud moments later. "You fainted at Tori's feet – quite the compliment, I am entirely certain – and she carried you home."

"Ah." I licked my lips, finding them dry still from our run. "I suppose you are rather displeased?"

Elrohir laughed, stretching out across the bed next to me after placing a goblet of water in my hands. "There is little point in anger for you will do as you please regardless of what I have to say." I chuckled with him then, leaning against his shoulder as I took small sips of the blessedly cool water. "Instead, I will help you gather your strength quickly. On the ride I saw Thúlië and Maedhros, and you know how that particular lord and Thranduil like to butt heads as wild stags might."

"Oh, wonderful!" I grinned, out of bed and washing in the basin on my desk before Elrohir could grab me. "What of this guest you brought?" I asked as I ran the cloth over my skin, removing the thin nightdress I wore as I did so.

"You have lost weight, damn it all. Stop trying to distract me, it will not work." I heard him growl and I shot a dark look over my shoulder. "You need to eat properly, or I shall force you to do it. If you intend to run as you did with Benny yesterday and shoot as regularly as you have been, then you must give your body that which it needs to let you do it."

"Oh hush, Elrohir. I have rather generous proportions as it is and it will do me no harm to become a little fitter. Is Thranduil still insisting on best dress?" I brushed off his admonishment easily as I came to stand in front of the wardrobe, considering my options.

"I believe so, yes. Do not try to change the subject, Litawen." I felt his hands on my hips then, holding me firmly against his back despite my state of undress. "I rather like your proportions just as they are."

His tone was seductive and I flushed at his insinuation, batting him away before selecting one of my more elegant dresses and allowing him to fasten the small pearl buttons that ran from the low back to the neck. Elrohir's lips traced the skin of my neck as he did so and I permitted myself just a moment to enjoy his attentions. "We should go to breakfast." He murmured against my skin, hot breath mingling with the feel of soft lips.

"You do not sound convinced." I replied as cheekily as I dared, earning a tug of a curl before Elrohir ran his fingers through my hair.

"Unruly as ever, love." He laughed, neatening it as best as he could with a few braids tied at the back. "Where did such a wild mass of hair come from, I wonder?" He mused as he hunted the drawers for wax to hold it firmly.

"Your guess is as good as mine. Now, answer my question – who did you bring?"

"Mithrandir." He answered promptly, but his gaze was shifty as he placed a silver band about my head.

"And..."

"A member of the family." Elrohir said hesitantly. "Father has been assisting as best he can with our dilemma, and Mother too with Grandmother. Help has come from a most unlikely source."

I frowned, trying to work out who he could possibly mean and then snapped my fingers with wide eyes. "Damn, Mother is going to murder you and she will not be remotely sorry."

"It is entirely her own fault for not working it out, and rest assured she made a valiant attempt to black my eye yesterday evening once you were settled. The lady in question found it all too amusing, let me assure you, as did her counterpart in Mithrandir."

"Let me see." I demanded, and I felt Elrohir's mind dance away from my own teasingly knowing that I would take great amusement in my Mother's discomfort.

"Perhaps once you have eaten – it is entirely your own fault that you fainted and I cannot be here at all times to ensure you feed yourself."

"That is blackmail." I narrowed my eyes at him as he took my arm and directed me towards the halls for our morning meal.

"Indeed it is, and how well I know it will work. Good morning, Amdiriel." Elrohir called as we rounded the corner, spotting my cousin deep in conversation with her Mother's twin.

"Good morning Elrohir... Lita! I am glad you are on your feet again. I heard what happened;you and I shall be having words." She waved, reaching out her hands to me. I wriggled free of Elrohir with a slight jab to his ribs and let her embrace me, taking a moment to savour her goodness.

_Stop mothering me. _I thought, and she heard it with a slight shaking of her shoulders as a giggle escaped.

_Stop needing to be mothered._

_You are improving. I shall have to recall how to veil my mind._ I answered approvingly as she stood back, eyes scanning me.

"She's right; it's good to see you up and about again, trouble." I hugged Tori in turn, her fine fair hair bound in warrior's braids behind her head. "I'm not staying – Legolas and I are going hunting to get away from Benny. You're all welcome to join us and we can leave her and Thranduil to sulk together – once you've got some food in you, anyway, tin-ribs." My Aunt jabbed me as she let me go. "J has another bird, by the way, so if you see a falcon bearing letters you know who its from. She's going to be here this evening with Glorfindel."

"That is most interesting. I happened across Thúlië on my ride here – she and Maedhros will be here in the coming days. It seems like our family is rather invading poor Thranduil's once-peaceful caves." Elrohir took my arm again so that I couldn't escape as I so sorely desired.

"He loves it really; I think he's becoming accustomed to our madness. See you later, and _eat_, Litawen." Tori warned me as she jogged down the corridor, hair bouncing in the light of the torches.

"Food first – then we can talk." Ami said firmly, taking my other arm as I gazed longingly after my Aunt. "You cannot shoot today, you must yet recover your strength."

"I hate you all."

"Mhhm, I have heard that _many_ times before." She laughed, as did my rather impish husband. "Though usually not from you. Aunty Benny, on the other hand..."

"I take it that Benny is still of a sour disposition?" Elrohir asked over me, and I mentally berated him for not letting me see quite the spectacle that she had made either in front of our guest, or in private shortly afterwards. He gave me a warning glance before continuing his conversation, only stopping to sit me down at one of the tables and taking a seat next to me.

"Indeed, though she seemed more amicable this morning despite Tori's uncertainty." Ami assured us, sitting opposite me. "Tea?"

"Please." She offered the pot to me, and I gladly accepted it – not before Elrohir generously heaped honey into the bottom of the cup. "Is that entirely necessary? I do so hate sweetened tea."

"It is, so deal with it." Amdiriel told me, and I sighed before taking bread, cheese, and a selection of fruit. I sipped the tea offered and grimaced, only for Elrohir to stare at me with raised brows.

"And the rest." He prompted, and I drained the cup in small gulps before presenting it to him empty with a huff. "Do you now perhaps already feel better?"

I assessed the situation and found that I did indeed feel a little warmer, and the lingering clamminess upon my brow and at my palms was easing quickly. Reluctantly I nodded, knowing how smug he could be when he wished, but instead he simply pressed his lips to my forehead with a little relief. "I am glad for truly, I rather feared for you. Now, please eat and then we can search for Benny."

"No need." Ami muttered, a roll of bread in her own hand smothered in a strawberry preserve. I turned and saw her sweep in, eyes dark, and she nodded once. Thranduil followed her, of equally poor disposition, and he seemed to sneer in our direction before following Mum to sit by his wife broodingly as a trio. I rolled my eyes and took a bite of my bread and cheese, suddenly feeling the hunger that had escaped me for too long.

"Well then, that solves that mystery." Elrohir said lightly. Turning back and seeing me eat with such vigour seemed to please him, and I quickly followed the roll with the two hard-boiled eggs he placed on my plate, and then by the fruit I had gathered.

"My darling cousin, it appears that you are inhaling your food." Amdiriel said with a mixture of astonishment and slight disgust. I glared at her even as I ate, berating her with my mind in an incessant lecture about manners which Elrohir apparently noticed as he grimaced.

"Lita, enough. Now, would you like to meet another member of my extended family? She is not so stern as you might think."

"Yes! I did not wear this lovely dress just for you, you know." I told him, standing as Ami did the same.

_Are you going to see that Lady?_

I heard her voice, tinged with uncertainty, even though I was not looking at her nor she me when I turned a little to look. It was so unusual to hear my Mother resembling anything like fearful, it made my hairs rise and a shiver passed through me. _Yes, what is wrong?_

_She unnerves me, more than Galadriel ever did. Tread gently, and use every ounce of wisdom and strength you have because you're going to need it. Come see me as soon as you're done._

Elrohir was staring at me, a slight expression of concern gracing his usually light and laughing features. "Litawen, are you well? You are trembling."

"Yes... yes, I am perfectly fine." I looked down at my arms where raised hairs could still be clearly seen, and Mum's warning rang still in my ears dampening my high spirits. "Let us go. We must not keep Lady Melian waiting."

**xxxXxxx**

I waited in the gardens where tea would be brought to us, the beautifully wrought table laid with exquisite lace and delicate silverware that I had only ever seen occasionally before at one of Celebrian's larger feasts. Lady Melian had insisted I come alone, so her maid had said, and would attend presently.

I was fidgeting and uncertain, my stomach in knots until I stood, pacing in a small circle before I felt a heady change in the atmosphere about me. My head snapped up and I simply stared at the woman before me, staggered by her presence alone. Melian seemed lit from within, exuding strength and burning white flame despite that she was as delicate in frame as my Aunts were. She appeared lithe and slim with dark hair in a curtain that almost reached the floor, a single shimmering stone in the band about her head as her eyes, as bright as diamonds, watched me serenely.

"At last I come to meet the lady of whom my descendants speak so fondly, and the lady that Galadriel has sought to draw into her tutelage." Her voice was light and sweet, and not as deep nor as cavernous as I first expected. As her words stopped the chattering of birds in the trees followed, their tones mimicking hers as best they could.

"It is usually of my Mother others speak with praise, and not I." I curtsied before my manners escaped me completely. "The honour is entirely mine."

"Perhaps, and for many long years I have watched the way in which Bernadette has healed many deep wounds." She bowed her head, her eyes lowering for a moment. "Yet she is skittish, and has no faith in that but which she sees with her own eyes. I find her strange."

"Everyone finds her strange, so I would assure you that you are not alone." I dared to joke, and her eyes met my own as if slightly startled by my words. "She has her own wounds to heal, and I know not that the time will ever truly come when they will be gone."

"The stain of Sauron, as those of Middle Earth knew him, is black indeed." Her voice grew grave then, and she gestured for me to sit at the table as a pot of tea and other delicate china was served. "I will be frank, for my time is short and to the Valar I shall soon be called as ever I am. You have been granted a gift and I would not have you come to fear it."

"My dreams." I stated, taking a sip of the delicate floral tea – one I had never tasted before.

"Yes, indeed. Do you like it?" She gestured to my cup and I nodded. "It is a blend of my own design, and one I have brought for this purpose alone. It is my personal gift to you, for it helps to draw clarity in that which we see."

"In dreams, or in the waking world?" I asked openly, examining the light brew that looked pink in the early sunlight that filtered through the trees – I could almost make out the flowers and herbs that had made it floating upon the glassy surface. I blinked, realising that the thought had come so suddenly something had drawn it from me, and I smiled wanly. "Well, that answers that, then."

Melian said nothing, instead sipping her tea whilst her eyes roved over me thoughtfully. "Death does not await those who you love, unless you let it. Bernadette and Haldir, Glorfindel and Jade, Legolas and Victoria... they have a choice, as they did when they were bound. Should they choose to strengthen the bond with which they have been blessed, when they are born again in mortal form they will be held strong by it."

"We thought that such a choice might exist. Yet for my Grandparents..." I sat back, running a finger over the rim of the mug. "They are bound as all other elves are."

"It is true. Trust that as long as your Mother and Father, your Aunts and Uncles focus on their bond in the coming years then they should remain largely untouched but for that which they already know. Recall that all this has already happened to them, and it is only now that the great circle completes at last."

"And what of my Grandparents?"

"Even the wisest cannot see all ends – that alone is left to those who created us, who shaped the world and shape it still, even when all other creatures but for mortals are gone from Middle Earth. But a little of the new land I have seen, and it is so different that only a very scarce few would navigate it with any certainty – the Valar themselves, and those to whom you are bound by blood."

"You forget Elladan." I pointed out, and she narrowed her eyes.

"I do not forget Elrond's second son." She said, her tone slightly sharp. "I question still the judgement of my counterpart upon his making of such a request. It should have been he who remained behind if so sorely he felt the deed should have been completed. Yet what is done cannot be undone, and we must have faith that Elladan has the strength to continue."

"Elrohir would know if he did not." I felt a little stubborn, and Melian looked a little more gentle then as my heart flared in defence.

"A pretty thought, but in practice it lacks truth. You would not know if one of your brothers were gone, and though twins are tied more closely still their souls are not bound as in a union of marriage." She explained softly. "Though I too believe that he will have the fortitude to continue as he must."

"My Mother recalled him, I think. She believes he disguised himself close to her passing and befriended her." I frowned, sipping my tea again and feeling a little fog clear and my emotions settle.

"That is good. Perhaps when her temper is somewhat cooled I shall speak to her upon the subject, if still I remain within these hidden caves." She looked behind her at the smooth stone that broke free from the grass and soared upward into the mountains behind us. "I understand that you have the same openness of mind as Galadriel does, is that so?"

"It is, my Lady." I nodded, and she poured me a further cup of the tea before watching me drink it.

"Then let us begin." She leaned forward, her fingertips touching my temples and her eyes locking with my own. _This is what you must do, and what you must teach those you love, for I know the souls of elves as well as if it were my own soul, my own heart. You can be protected._

The morning and following afternoon were exhausting, both mentally and physically. Melian's fierce light infiltrated every part of my mind and my spirit until I felt both elated and utterly drained, but with a plan on the next steps to take. She was more delicate than Galadriel as she watched my dream over and over, piecing it together with other things I had seen but never connected in a great woven pattern like a blanket.

The tea she had brought seemed to make my mind clearer, and into my hands she pressed her own as our foreheads dipped low together, now in a world entirely inside our minds. The outside world had no meaning and no consequence as we danced in the space that was entirely unlimited – a great field beneath the stars where we could draw our futures and plot our dreams until we knew at least what would likely come to pass.

_Do you know when it will be?_ I asked, my words seeming to echo even in my mind.

_Not as soon as you fear, nor as far as you might like it to be_. Melian stated, her dark hair now like a shawl fighting off a chill. _Mortal years seem so much quicker, their lives so much faster than ever they have been, though they live longer and longer as they learn._

_Have you seen their world?_

Melian remained silent for time unknown before she answered at last. _I have heard, and nothing more. Know that the Valar are ever watchful of all children of our Great Father, and not only the First-born. _

_I fear for them all. _ I admitted to her in the space we shared together, finding her now rather less intimidating in my own mind. Her laughter rang, song-like as the nightingales that seemed to follow her in this place mimicked her.

_Honesty has ever been something that surrounds your kin. Intimidating, indeed – I am certain there are those who would find some great humour in that_. Her eyes glinted as she pulled at the long grass, weaving and braiding it in her fingers. _Your Grandparents shall come to no harm. At the worst, they shall sleep until their soul is reunited, and if such a thing comes to pass then ensuring their bodies are preserved will be your greatest task. Turn your mind instead to those who you can save from such a fate._

We remained in silence for longer and longer, reiterating in our minds what it was I needed to teach them, until I had lost complete track of all that had passed. I seemed to startle suddenly from my mind, sitting upright, but when I looked around me Melian was gone and in her place was a large silken pack filled with that same floral scented tea, ready to be brewed. I took it in my hands, smelling it and letting the gentle clarity it offered rally me into standing and taking stock of my surroundings.

The twilight was coming, and so I made my way back to the caves in a daze wondering just what had happened that day. Had I even met Melian at all, or had it all been in my mind? Had she come and gone, and her mind simply remained with me whilst she continued in other tasks?

I walked in a daze back to my rooms, finding Elrohir with his head in a book and a slight crease in his brow as he poured over the story. I removed my dress and changed into my nightclothes without even thinking, truly exhausted once more by the sheer weight of the task I had undertaken that day. "I take it you had a trying afternoon? Benny came by and said she wanted to see you and Amdiriel after you... Litawen?"

Bag still clasped in my hand, I laid on the bed and fell deeply asleep; my eyes were closed and my mind in a world of dreams before my head even touched the pillow.

* * *

**What do you think? Reviews, as always, sincerely appreciated. **


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